The Art of Falling
by Leijona
Summary: Peyton Sawyer is an art teacher at Tree Hill High. Involves main five. Eventual Nathan/Peyton pairing. AU. In progress.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters._

 _ **AN:** Multi-chapter, will eventually be Nathan/Peyton. Enjoy :)  
FYI; Brooke and Peyton grew up in New York, while Lucas, Haley and Nathan grew up together in Tree Hill. Peyton knows Lucas and Haley from work, but hasn't met Nathan. Brooke knows who Lucas and Haley are from Peyton's stories, but hasn't met them yet.  
_

* * *

 **JANUARY**

Peyton cursed quietly and readjusted the bag on her shoulder. It was heavy and uncomfortable and she started to regret her decision of bringing three of her own paintings to school. She tightened her grip on the stack of books she was holding to her chest, and hoped she could make it inside without dropping anything. As she climbed the stairs to the main building, she heard a familiar voice behind her, "Do you need any help?"

Peyton turned around and smiled, "You're a lifesaver, Haley."

The other woman shrugged, her eyes twinkling, "I do what I can." She took the stack of books from Peyton and together they walked inside.

Peyton met Haley for the first time at the beginning of this school year, when she started working as the Visual Arts teacher at Tree Hill High. They had become fast friends. Probably because they were the only two people of the faculty staff under forty. Peyton admired Haley's teaching skills immensely and often went to her for advice.

"Ugh," Peyton wrinkled her nose, as they turned left into the hallway that leads to her classroom, "it never goes away, does it?" When she saw the confused look on Haley's face she explained, "That typical high school smell. Sweat mixed with old books, and cafeteria food, and lockers that have god knows what stuffed inside of them for god knows how long." She fake-retched, "I thought I'd be used to it by now, but no."

Haley let out a laugh, "You've only been here five months, Peyton, give it time. This time next year you won't even notice it anymore."

Peyton shook her head, "I'm not sure that's better, Hales."

"Me neither," Haley grinned, "but we have to look on the bright side, don't you think?" Always the optimist, Haley James.

They stopped in front of Peyton's classroom and Haley handed her the stack of books back, "I'll see you at lunch, ok? We haven't even talked about our Christmas holidays yet!"

Peyton was about to say there wasn't much to talk about, having spent the entire two weeks at home, watching movies, painting, and eating ice cream straight out of the tub. She wasn't a big fan of the holidays, but she knew Haley was so she smiled, "Sure."

Haley gave her a quick wave before she turned around and walked back to her own classroom, which was in the C-wing of the building, on the opposite side of the main entrance. Peyton was certain Haley had already been here this past weekend to make sure her classroom was ready for when school started again on Monday. Haley was much more organized that way. Her well thought-out lessons plans were both feared and admired around school, by teachers and students alike.

Peyton looked around her own classroom and felt proud of how it looked; sure, it was messy but it was _her_ mess. The long wall on her right side was covered in artwork from students, while the back wall, which could slide open to reveal an art room behind it, was covered in lyrics. Some of which Peyton had painted on herself, others which were written down by students. There was always a marker lying around nearby should someone get a sudden burst of inspiration. She knew some of her older colleagues frowned at the idea of having students write on the walls, but if it meant the kids were being creative and involved, she sure as hell wasn't going to stop them. Plus she could always paint over it at the end of the school year.

Peyton put the books down on her desk and carefully placed the heavy bag on the ground, thankful that the janitor had already opened the blinds for her. A quick glance at the clock told her she only had fifteen minutes left before the first bell would ring, so she took her leather jacket off, hung it on her chair and started to unpack her bag.

She placed the three canvasses side by side on the ridge of the blackboard and took a step back to look at her work. Two of the pieces were from when she was in high school herself; one being an unnamed self-portrait where she had drawn a hole where her heart should be, the second was called _Love;_ a canvas covered in thick, black paint, while the third was a more recent piece; a confetti of colors and swirls of happiness called _Tomorrow_.

Peyton walked back to her desk and leaned against it as the first students started to fill the room. She nodded to them as a hello and watched as they all took their seats. It was one of her few rules; she had assigned each student a seat at the beginning of the year, because she was terrible with names, and had explained to them that as long as everyone stuck to her seating plan, they would get along just fine. And so far, so good.

While this was only her first teaching job, she seemed to have earned respect from all her students, freshmen and seniors alike. Maybe it was because she didn't look like a typical high school teacher; she always wore black and always wore sneakers. Maybe it was because she treated her students like equals instead of kids. She listened to their opinions like she would listen to her colleagues and felt as much of a big sister to these kids as their teacher. But, when needed, she could be tough; although the kids knew she was always fair and never took sides. Either way, there was a mutual respect in her classes that she was proud of having achieved.

The last student to come inside closed the door (another one of her rules) and she smiled at the freshmen in front of her. She felt a special affection for her three freshmen classes; both she and the kids started high school at the same time. Her first day as a teacher was their first day as students and somehow they formed a bond because of this.

"Good morning," Peyton started, "it's good to see all of you again. Glad to see you've all survived the holidays. Now, I know some of you will probably want to share what you did for Christmas and New Year's, but I'm going to have to refer you to Miss James' class for that. She's much more into this holiday stuff than I am, as I'm sure you all know."

Some of the kids nodded in agreement, knowing all too well how crazy their English teacher had gotten in the weeks leading up to Christmas; her classroom looked like a winter wonderland and she even had her students write modern day Christmas carols as an assignment.

"So," Peyton continued, "I figured we'd start the week with something a little different." She stepped aside and gestured at the three paintings behind her; "These are three of my own paintings," she smiled when she saw the surprised looks in front of her. She never really told them she was a painter, only that she liked to sketch. "One of them is called _Love_ and I want you to write a 500-word essay about which one you think it is and why. Should 500 words not be enough, then by all means; have at it and make a paper out of it, but I can't guarantee it will earn you more points. It might earn you chocolate though," she added with a wink. "So humor me."

She was met with different reactions; some kids groaned in frustration at having to write an essay in art class, while others were already turned around in their seats, discussing the paintings with their classmates.

Peyton cleared her throat, trying to get the kids to focus on her again, "I think the two hours this class lasts should be enough to write the essay, but just because I like you so much, and because I think we should take it slow this first week back after winter break, you can hand it in at the start of next week's class at the latest." She looked around the classroom and saw relieved faces, "And last, if you have any questions about the paintings, you can always ask but I can't promise I'll answer. Can't make it too easy on you, now can I?" She smiled a wicked smile, "Have fun, kids."

She used the same assignment for all her freshmen and sophomore classes that week and was surprised at how much more confident the sophomores were in their arguments and how many of them have already turned in their work at the end of each class. The freshmen however, took their time and only a few brave ones had turned in their essays so far.

Her junior classes got a slightly different assignment; instead of writing an essay they were challenged to translate the prompt _Love_ into a painting of their own. During their classes, Peyton opened up the wall dividing her classroom from the art room, so that the students had free access to supplies and had more room to work on their paintings. She gave them four weeks to complete their task and wasn't surprised that most of them took a relaxed approach to the assignment. After all, Visual Arts was an elective course in junior and senior year; only those really interested in the arts had enrolled in her classes and most of them were really good.

* * *

The first week after Winter break proved to be an uneventful one and Peyton was glad when Friday came around. She only had two senior classes on Friday; one right before and one right after lunch, which meant that if she wanted she could sleep in and go home early.

Sometimes though, she stayed late and sat in with one of Haley's senior English classes. Every other week Haley showed a movie to her students, but before the movie would start she assigned each student a specific scene and asked them to rewrite it to include something they thought the movie was missing. The next week the students would take turns in reading their scenes out loud and a whole new story would emerge in front of them. It was a tough assignment for sure, but a great thing to watch and very inspiring.

Haley had already let her know yesterday that this week they would watch _The Breakfast Club_. While it was one of Peyton's favorite movies, she was hesitant about anyone rewriting the script; the movie was so well written, that she doubted it could be improved. She hoped to be proven wrong.

Before she could sit in with Haley she had one of her own classes to get through first. They weren't a bad group of students, not at all, but it was always difficult with seniors; the age difference was much smaller and they definitely kept her on her toes with their smart remarks and sometimes lack of interest in whatever she was trying to teach. Especially this last class on Fridays, when everybody, Peyton included, was ready for the weekend to start.

The bell to signal the end of lunch rang when the first couple of students walked into her classroom. The two boys, Kevin and Jack, walked straight past her and sat down on their assigned seats on the left side of the room. They weren't troublemakers per say, but weren't actively participating in class either. She still wasn't sure why they had even chosen Visual Arts, but as long as they didn't bother any of the other students and kept their grades up, Peyton didn't mind.

Two girls, Sarah and Scottie, followed and they greeted her enthusiastically before they sat down in their seats. Peyton had taken an immediate liking to both girls, mostly because they reminded her of herself and her best friend Brooke in high school. Sarah was the outgoing cheerleader, while Scottie kept to herself and could always been found buried in a book somewhere. Even though the two girls couldn't be more different, they were best friends and absolutely inseparable.

There was a buzz going around the room once all the students were inside and Peyton knew all too well why that was. She cleared her throat to get their attention, "I'm sure you have already heard that we officially started preparing for senior prom today." A lot of students, including an unexpectedly large number of boys, nodded enthusiastically.

"I already spoke to my other senior class about this," Peyton continued, "so I'm sure word has already gotten out during lunch that this year I will be the teacher who coordinates everything that has to do with prom."

To be honest, she wasn't all that happy about being handed this extra task, and she definitely didn't think of herself as someone who loved prom enough to do a great job, but the principal, Mr Henderson, didn't want to take no for an answer when he asked her and so here she was.

"Now, I can use all the help I can get, so on my desk I have a list," Peyton held up a clipboard, "with everything that needs to be done. Behind that is another list where you can write down your name and add which of the tasks has your preference and I will _try_ to assign everyone to their requested tasks, but I can't make any promises."

She put the clipboard down again and looked around the room, trying to look indifferent, "But know that either way your participation may or may not have a positive influence on your final grade. Just saying."

The class whooped and cheered in response and Peyton had a hard time getting them to settle down again. She wasn't surprised; it's an easy way to earn some extra points.

"Alright," she leaned against her desk and crossed her arms, "for today's class I want you to pair up into groups of four and try to think of a theme for senior prom. Work out a decoration plan, color scheme, and write down some arguments on why you think we should choose your theme and hand it to me after class. I will pick the top six themes from both you and the other senior class and we will take it to a vote next week, ok?"

She watched contently as groups started to form, and smiled when she saw Sarah and Scottie ask Kevin and Jack if they wanted to be on their team.

Before Peyton knew it the bell rang, signaling the end of class. She stood next to the door to collect their work, and watched them as they exited her classroom and left for their last class of the week. Some of them were in Haley's class and yelled out a "See you in English, Miss Sawyer".

Peyton put the papers the students had handed her in a folder and stuck it in her purse. She grabbed her jacket and took a quick look around the room to see if everything was as it should be before she made her way across the building to the C-wing.

The movie had already started when Peyton quietly entered the classroom, but she had seen it so many times already that she knew exactly what was coming next. She sat down on one of the chairs in the back of the classroom, next to Haley, who, from this position, had a good overview of the room as to keep an eye on her students.

It wasn't long before she was completely engrossed in the movie and, as always, she had to blink back a tear when _Don't You Forget About Me_ by _The Simple Minds_ started playing during the final scene. She leaned her head against the wall and waited for Haley to turn the lights on. The students were already gathering their things, knowing they were free to go once the movie was finished. Before anyone could leave though, Haley clapped her hands one time and looked at her students, "Everyone knows their scene?" The class nodded and Haley smiled, "Good, have fun with it and I will see you all next week."

Peyton waited until the last student had cleared the room before she grabbed her things and joined Haley at her desk, "Are you sure you're not coming?"

Earlier this week, Peyton asked Haley if she wanted to come along for drinks on Friday, a tradition Brooke and Peyton started when they moved back to Tree Hill. But Haley had politely declined, saying she had other plans.

Haley nodded, "Positive. Maybe next time?"

"Sure," Peyton smiled, "see you next week, Hales. Have a good weekend."

"You too, Peyton,"

* * *

"They let you go to work dressed like that?"

"Good to see you to, Brooke," Peyton replied. She locked her car door and gave her best friend a hug before they crossed the street together to Tric, one of Tree Hill's few bars, and their usual spot for their Friday night date.

Brooke wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Don't they have a dress code these days?"

"And what exactly is wrong with what I'm wearing?" Peyton countered, even though she knew exactly what Brooke was going to say, because this was their spiel every Friday night.

"You look exactly like you did in high school, P." Brooke clucked her tongue, "And it's one thing for an angst-y teenager to dress in all black, with ugly band t-shirts and worn out sneakers, but it's another thing for a grown woman with a job. It makes her look like she's trying too hard."

"Hey!" Peyton countered, but with a smile, "First of, _this_ ," she pointed at her t-shirt, "is not ugly. It's The Cure and it's vintage. And second, I am so not trying too hard." She shrugged, "This is just my look. And the kids love it."

"I'm sure they do," Brooke mused, "but that might have something to do with that t-shirt being just a little too tight."

"Whatever," Peyton stuck out her tongue at Brooke. "You're just jealous."

"Sure," Brooke agreed. "You just keep telling yourself that, Blondie." She opened the door to the bar and followed Peyton inside.

Not surprisingly they found the place deserted; it was still early, even for the regulars that usually flooded Tric during weeknights. The bartender, Chase, greeted them enthusiastically, "Ladies, good to see you again."

"Same here," Peyton agreed. She turned to Brooke, "Can we order some food first? I'm pretty hungry."

"You're always pretty hungry," Brooke huffed, rolling her eyes, "and still as skinny as ever. Honestly Peyton, it's just unfair.

Peyton shrugged as a reply.

"I'll have a burger and fries and coke, please." Brooke said to Chase.

"Same here," Peyton added, "You know where to find us, right?"

Chase nodded and smiled, "I'll bring your order once it's ready."

"Thanks babe," Brooke gave him a wink and headed toward their usual table on the left side of the bar. It was far away enough from the music to be able to have a normal conversation without having to shout, and close enough to the bar to get quick refills and to check out the rest of the crowd.

"He's so into you, it isn't even funny anymore," Peyton teased, "the kid is practically drooling every time he sees you."

"He is cute," Brooke admitted, not saying anything else. Peyton took this as a cue to drop the subject, knowing her best friend too well to keep pushing.

They sat down and Peyton glanced around the room. Haley once told her that back when she was in high school Tric was the go-to place for teenagers in Tree Hill, with open mic nights once a month and bands playing in the weekends. Haley had even confessed she once performed, but was quick to add it had been a one-time thing and that she was too nervous to really enjoy being on stage.

According to Haley it had been ages since a band last performed at Tric, and it even was closed for a couple of years until it reopened again right before Brooke and Peyton moved back to Tree Hill. Chase, the bartender, was also part owner, and bought the place together with his business partner Owen. They turned it into a bar that became a quick favorite with the locals, Brooke and Peyton included.

It wasn't long before Chase brought them their drinks and informed them that their food was coming.

"So, how was work this week?" Brooke asked, taking a sip of her drink.

Peyton shrugged, "It was pretty fun. Remember when I told you I thought about brining my own work to school for an assignment?"

Brooke nodded, actually having encouraged Peyton to do so. When it came to Peyton's artwork, Brooke was her biggest fan.

"Well, I took that self-portrait with the hole for my heart, _Love_ , and _Tomorrow,_ and have the freshmen and sophomores classes write an essay on which painting they think is _Love_ and why. The juniors have to make their own version of Love," Peyton smiled, "and the seniors are trying to come up with prom themes because _I_ will be coordinating prom this year."

"Shut. Up." Brooke raised her eyebrows in surprise, " _My_ Peyton Sawyer, my emo best friend, the one who hated prom and everyone in it, is coordinating Tree Hill High's prom?" She wiped away a fake tear, "It's nothing short of a miracle."

"Whatever," Peyton countered, laughing at Brooke's reaction. "It's bad enough that they have me do this, but I have to chaperone as well."

Brooke sat up in her chair, "How was this not the first thing you said to me when you go out of your car?" She took Peyton's hand, "Please, please, _please_ tell me I get to make your dress? Pretty please? I will make you the best prom dress ever!"

Peyton was quiet for a moment, but then she nodded, "You know what, you can." Brooke squealed in delight. "But only if you ask Chase out somewhere in the next two weeks," Peyton added with a wicked grin.

* * *

"It was a pleasure, as always," Peyton said, while she did a courtesy-type of bow.

"Same here," Brooke agreed. She gave Peyton a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you next week, ok?"

"Same time, same place," Peyton agreed. She opened her car door and got inside, "I'll call you on Monday, babe!"

Brooke waved in response.

Like their Friday night dates at Tric, their Monday night phone calls were another one of their rituals which started when they moved here last summer. Brooke actually lived in Tree Hill for the first six years of her life before her parents divorced and she and her mother moved to New York. Peyton was seated next to Brooke on the first day of Elementary school and they had been best friends ever since.

After they graduated High School Brooke went on to study fashion design at FIT, while Peyton went to NYU. They moved into a tiny apartment in the East Village, where they lived together for the next five years. Already then Brooke was busy setting up her own clothing line and she showed her first collection at New York Fashion Week before she even finished university. She became famous overnight and it seemed everyone wanted a piece of her.

At first Brooke loved all the attention and worked hard to build her brand, Clothes _Over Broes,_ but after a year of never-ending attention, both positive and negative, Brooke decided to take step back. While she still was head-designer for the company, her mother, Victoria, now handled all business decisions and was the spokesperson for the company. And even though things quieted down for Brooke, and she could live relatively anonymously again, she still was unhappy and Peyton was worried about her.

So when Brooke made the decision to move back to Tree Hill and asked Peyton to come with her, Peyton didn't hesitate for a moment. Because even though she was born and raised in New York, there was nothing left for her there anymore.

Brooke and Peyton agreed that, while they loved living together, it was time for both of them to put some roots down and that they should get their own place. Brooke lived in a house on the waterfront, while Peyton bought a big apartment on the other side of town. Immediately after deciding not to live together anymore, they promised each other that Friday night would be reserved for dinner and drinks, and that they would call every Monday to catch up, no matter how busy life got.

* * *

Peyton was about to turn left onto Oleander Drive when she saw a cop car pull up behind her. She cursed silently when the officer signalled her to pull over, knowing she went over the speed limit on Main Street earlier. Peyton parked her car on the side of the road and rolled her window down, seeing the officer approach in her side mirror.

"Good evening, ma'am," the officer tapped his hat as a greeting, "Can I see your papers, please?"

Peyton sighed and handed them over. She looked at the man standing next to her and was surprised to see he was about her age. Her eyes found his and she was struck by how blue they are. She smiled at him, hoping he would take it easy on her.

"Thank you," the officer handed her papers back. "The reason I'm stopping you is because you have a broken taillight, ma'am."

"Oh," Peyton responded, relieved. "I'll have it fixed tomorrow."

"I'd rather you replace it now, ma'am," the officer answered. "Do you have a spare with you?"

"I do," Peyton said slowly, somewhat embarrassed, "but I don't actually know how to replace it." She bit her lip and looked up at the officer, "Could you help me, maybe?"

He shook his head, but grinned, "It's a good thing it's a slow night, ma'am."

"Please stop with the 'ma'am'," Peyton groaned as she goy out of her car, "I'm not _that_ old." She opened the trunk and took out the box of spares.

"Miss Sawyer then?" the officer suggested as he took the box from her. He took off his hat and handed her his flashlight, "If you could just shine here," he said as he removed the back cover of her taillight.

"I don't know," Peyton shrugged.

"About the flashlight?" the officer joked, a grin spreading across his face. He unscrewed the faulty light bulb and handed it to Peyton.

"About the Miss Sawyer thing," Peyton replied, and handed him a new bulb. "That's what all the kids at school call me." She watched him as he screwed the new bulb in place.

"You're a teacher?" the officer asked as he closed the cover and took the flashlight from her.

"Wow," Peyton shook her head. "Is it really that hard to believe?" She closed the trunk and leaned against it.

The officer shrugged, "You just don't look like any of my teachers did in high school."

"I know," Peyton sighed, thinking back to what Brooke said to her earlier tonight. "To be honest I can't believe they let me go to work dressed like this either." She plucked at her t-shirt, "Maybe Brooke was right." Peyton knew that one of the reasons why she dressed like this was to let the kids know she was one of them, that she was on their side. She was afraid that if she suddenly started dressing different the kids would treat her different too.

"I don't know what this Brooke said," the officer said, interrupting her thoughts, "but I like it. It's just that it makes you look more like an artist than a teacher."

Peyton let out a laugh, surprised by his remark, "I am an art teacher actually."

"There you go," the officer nodded, "that explains it." He put his hat back on and gave her a nod, "As fun as this was, I probably should get back to work."

"Yeah," Peyton agreed, "Thank you, for helping a lady out."

"Anytime," the officer reassured her. "Have a safe drive home," and with a wink; " _ma'am_."

Peyton let out another laugh as she got in her car.

* * *

"Tell me again about this handsome police officer," Brooke urged, before taking a sip from her drink.

Another week had passed and Brooke and Peyton were once again at Tric for their Friday night date. Peyton had already told Brooke everything about her run in with the law last week, but Brooke, as always, wanted to go over the story once again, and in great detail too.

"He fixed my light bulb," Peyton shrugged. "What more do you want me to say?"

Brooke sighed dramatically, "I don't know. How about how you want to marry him and have his babies?"

Peyton snorted, "It takes more than fixing my light bulb for me to want to marry someone, Brooke."

"Ugh, don't I know it," Brooke groaned. She shook her head and took another sip of her drink.

"Speaking of babies," Peyton said with a grin, "how are things with Chase?" A week had passed since she challenged Brooke to ask Chase out on a date and so far nothing had happened.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "You are not still going on about this, are you?"

"Something about a prom dress," Peyton fake-coughed and winked at Brooke.

"I hate you," Brooke shook her head, but laughed. "I still have a week left, Blondie. Plus he isn't even here tonight."

"Whatever," Peyton smirked, "I hear Target has _great_ prom dresses these days."

* * *

"Haley!" Peyton shouted as she spotted her friend walking up the stairs to the main building.

"Hey," Haley smiled as she turned around and waited for Peyton to catch up. "How was your weekend?"

"Too short," Peyton responded with a grin. "Yours?"

Together they walked up the stairs and Peyton held the door open for Haley, waiting for her to pass.

"Too long," Haley replied with a shy smile. It was no secret that Haley loved her work and that she often came to school during the weekends to prepare classes or grade papers.

"Can I ask you something?" Peyton followed Haley inside and stopped in the main hall.

"Sure," Haley nodded.

"Do you know Chase Adams?" Peyton asked, "The guy who owns Tric?"

"A little," Haley replied. "We were in the same year in high school, but I don't think we ever had any classes together. Why?"

"I may have challenged Brooke to ask him out," Peyton admitted, "and I just wanted to know if he's a good guy."

"From how I remember him, he's a really good guy," Haley reassured her with a smile.

"Good," Peyton nodded. She was about to say goodbye and make her way to her classroom when she remembered something, "Hey, isn't Lucas supposed to take over from McMillan starting this week?"

Lucas Scott was a substitute English teacher, writer, and Haley's best friend. Peyton met him briefly in November, when he substituted two weeks for another teacher in the English department, and had taken an immediate liking to him.

McMillan, an old, brittle man, lost his wife after a long battle with cancer last week and was expected to be absent for at least three weeks.

"He had to drop his brother off at work first, I think his car broke down or something," Haley explained, "Anyway, he should be here soon." She looked at her watch, "I really should get to class, but I'll see you at lunch?"

Peyton nodded and gave a quick wave, "See you at lunch, Hales."

* * *

It was late Thursday afternoon when Peyton closed the door of her classroom and was about to leave for home when Lucas caught up with her. She smiled at him, "Mr. Scott."

"Miss Sawyer," he replied with a grin, "fancy seeing you here."

"I could say the same; you're a long way from the English wing," Peyton remarked.

"Coach Whitey wanted to see me," Lucas explained. The coaching staff had their offices just past Peyton's classroom, and just in front of the gym. "He wanted to know if I'd like to help him coach the basketball team from now on."

"That's great, Lucas," Peyton congratulated him.

"Thank you," Lucas nodded. "I think he's finally realizing he won't be around forever and that maybe it's time to retire next year."

"Wasn't he already coaching when you were in high school?" Peyton asked, remembering something Haley said, about Coach Whitey being the only staff member who was already around when she and Lucas were students here.

Lucas nodded, "Yeah, and even then we thought he was old."

Peyton laughed, "Better not let him hear you say that."

"Better not," Lucas agreed. They reached the main hall and Lucas gave her a quick nod, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes." Peyton was about to exit the building when she heared shouting coming from the bathroom to her left. It sounded like someone was being cheered on to do something and even though she only worked here a couple of months she knew this could only mean something bad. She looked around to see if Lucas was still close by and saw he was just about to enter his classroom. She shouted, "Lucas!" to get his attention and without looking to see if he heard her she ran to the bathroom.

When she opened the door she was shocked by the sight in front of her; Jack was cornered by two boys she recognized to be basketball players, holding him back with his hands pinned to his sides, while two other boys were going through his bag and throwing his books in the toilets. None of the boys were in any of her classes, but she knew they were seniors just like Jack.

"Stop it right now," Peyton all but screamed, her voice bouncing off the walls. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" She grabbed the two boys closest to her and pulled them apart, away from the bag.

"I'll deal with these four, Miss Sawyer," she heared Lucas say from behind her. Without looking she pushed the two boys in his direction, and took a step forward. The two other boys had let go of Jack and held their hands up in defense, trying to act innocent, but Peyton was fuming and grabbed both their arms, pushing them in Lucas' direction as well. She heared Lucas barking orders at the boys, telling them to shut up and follow him to his classroom. She was assured he would deal with them as he saw fit but her main concern was Jack and she carefully took another step toward the boy.

"Jack," Peyton held out her hand, but didn't touch him, "Are you ok?"

The boy nodded ever so slightly, but Peyton saw the tears in his eyes and knew he wasn't. As much as she wanted to, she fought the urge to hug him and instead kept her distance, knowing the boy was probably both scared and embarrassed by what just happened. She looked around the room and saw his books covering the floor. Most of them were soaking wet and unsalvageable. Peyton took a deep breath and started gathering the books in her arms.

She looked at Jack, who was still avoiding her eyes, "I'll have a new set of books ready for you tomorrow morning, ok? Just come by my classroom before the first bell to pick them up."

Jack nodded and quietly picked up his bag.

"Jack," Peyton said, and this time she did put her hand on his arm, urging him to look at her. When he did she continued, "I know you probably don't want to hear this and you probably want to forget this ever happened, but I want you to know that I'm here for you, ok? If you want to talk, or if you want to hang out after your last class until you feel safe to go home, you know where to find me, right?"

The boy nodded.

"Ok," Peyton let go of his arm. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah," Jack replied, once again avoiding her eyes.

"This isn't the first time this happened, is it?" Peyton asked; her voice soft.

Jack shook his head before he walked out of the room.

* * *

"Jesus, kids are so cruel," Brooke shook her head after Peyton told her what happened the day before. "Were we ever this bad in high school?"

Peyton shook her head, "No way, no one at school was."

"That poor kid," Brooke continued, "Do you think they'll leave him alone now?"

"I really hope so, but I really don't know," Peyton replied. "Lucas took them off the basketball team for the rest of the season, but they weren't in the race for the championship anyway, so I doubt that scared them much." She signalled Chase for another round of drinks, "I really hope Jack's ok though, he wasn't at school today."

"Hmm," Brooke agreed, "Maybe you should call his parents?"

"Yeah, I don't know," Peyton hesitated but continued, "He doesn't seem like the kid who gets along with his parents. I don't want to get him into more trouble."

Brooke let out a sigh, "Let's talk about something else, ok?"

"Like how you still haven't asked Chase out yet," Peyton teased.

Brooke narrowed her eyes at her best friend, "The night is still young." She laughed, "Or something to that extent."

"Oh come on, Brooke," Peyton urged. "You haven't been on one date since we moved here, just ask him out already." She looked up and saw Chase approaching with their drinks. "Here he comes," she got up and patted Brooke on her head, "I'm just going to go away for a while so do your thing, ok?"

Brooke rolled eyes, but sat up and straightened her dress just before Chase arrived at their table.

* * *

"You look fine," Peyton said for the tenth time. "Come on, Brooke, you're going to be late."

It was Thursday night and Brooke was supposed to meet Chase for their date in ten minutes. Peyton had agreed to come to Brooke's house after work, to help Brooke choose her outfit and to give her a much needed pep talk.

"I don't know about the shoes, though," Brooke muttered.

Peyton clapped her hands, "The shoes are fine, come on, we need to _go_!" Not only had she agreed to help Brooke prepare for her date, Peyton had also offered to drive her to the restaurant because, as Peyton reasoned, that meant that Chase would _have_ to drive Brooke home after their date. Sometimes, Peyton figured, it was ok to help move things along a bit.

"Ok," Brooke took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She grabbed her purse and keys and headed out the door Peyton held open for her. "Let's go."

"Finally," Peyton said under her breath. She got into her car and waited for Brooke to lock the front door before she started it.

The drive to the restaurant was quiet, and Peyton knew it was because Brooke was nervous. Her best friend acted tough most of the time but Peyton knew that deep down Brooke was as insecure as the next person. To not stress her out even more, Peyton kept quiet and instead turned the radio on.

They arrived at the restaurant just in time and Peyton could see Chase already waiting for Brooke outside.

"Now listen," Peyton began, trying to keep a straight face, "you are a grown woman, and I expect you'll take your responsibilities when it comes to using protection, but just in case you haven't," Peyton reached over Brooke and opened the glove compartment, "here are some condoms. Use them wisely." She let out a laugh when she saw Brooke's disgusted face.

"Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer," Brooke said through clenched teeth, "put those back right now."

"But, Brooke," Peyton grinned, "I'm not ready to be an aunt yet."

"Shut up," Brooke couldn't help but laugh. "You are the worst."

"I love you too," Peyton answered with a grin, happy to have relieved some of the tension and hoping that Brooke was a little bit more relaxed. "Now go and have fun."

"Thanks babe," Brooke said before she got out of the car.

Peyton watched as Brooke greeted Chase with a hug and smiled when Brooke hooked arms with him as they walked into the restaurant.

She had just signaled to get back the road when she heared a police siren behind her. Looking in her rearview mirror she saw the same officer that helped her with her light getting out of the car. Shaking her head, Peyton rolled her window down and waited.

"We really have to stop meeting like this," the man grinned as leaned against her car.

"Are you the only cop Tree Hill has?" Peyton muttered under her breath.

"There are ten of us, actually," he replied, unfazed by her comment. "But the rest is not nearly as good-looking as I am."

Peyton snorted, "And I guess that's a good thing?"

"That's for you to decide," The officer gave a nod toward the back of the car, "I'm happy to see your lights are still working."

"Came to admire your handy work?" Peyton asked with a smile when she realized he was just making small talk and not stopping her because she did something wrong. It was probably another quiet night for him.

"I have to say, you have some fine looking taillights, ma'am," he offered.

"Thank you," Peyton accepted the compliment with another smile. "Anything else I can help you with, officer?"

He shook his head, "Not really."

"Alright," Peyton nodded, "Well, I'll see you around then."

"That you will," the officer tapped his hat and walked back to his car.

* * *

 _Reviews are appreciated :)_


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN:**_ _Thank you for the lovely reviews I got on the first chapter! I tried to reply to most of you, but unfortunately can't reply to guest reviews, so a big thank you to you anonymous readers! :)  
I noticed some of you were wondering if this story would also feature Brooke/Lucas as a pairing and I'm sorry to have to disappoint you guys, but for now that's not something that I have planned.  
Also, I've never written chapters this long, and am not sure if you guys prefer shorter chapters or not, so please let me know!_

* * *

 **FEBRUARY**

Peyton hesitated for a second, key in one hand, two cups of freshly brewed coffee in the other, but decided quickly that if Chase was still around on Sunday, three days after his first date with Brooke, he might as well get used to the fact that Peyton had a key and could barge in at all times. She unlocked the door with the spare key Brooke gave her when she moved in.

A homely feeling came over Peyton when she set foot in the hall. Brooke's house was very clean and very inviting. Most walls were painted white, with pops of color coming from accessories, paintings, and photographs, and there were fresh flowers scattered across the hall, kitchen and living room. The house was fairly big, but it felt cozy and Peyton loved spending time here, maybe because her own apartment was so much more of a mess and not welcoming at all.

"Brooke," Peyton called out and closed the door behind her. She was met with a "Over here," coming from the other side of the house and she guessed Brooke was in her office, probably working on some sketches, even though it was Sunday. Brooke loved her work and could always be found sketching or jotting down ideas.

Peyton continued down the hall, one of her paintings hanging on the right wall. It was a painting she made especially for Brooke; a canvas filled with different hues of blue, a color Peyton associated with Brooke since the day she first met her all those years ago. She had called it _Penelope_ for good measure.

Peyton passed the kitchen and found Brooke in the last room on her left, her office, sitting behind her desk, chewing on a pencil.

"Morning," Peyton said as she set the cups on the desk.

Brooke sniffed and looked up, her eyes twinkling, "You brought coffee! I love you, P. Sawyer."

"That bad, huh?" Peyton sat down on one of the chairs opposite to Brooke and took a sip of the hot beverage. "Did Chase keep you up all night, or what?"

"Ugh, I wish," Brooke leaned back in her chair and shook her head.

"Not a good date?" Peyton asked hesitantly, not wanting to upset Brooke.

"No, no it's not that," Brooke's eyes lit up again, "Thursday was amazing, seriously P., he's such a nice guy, but it just sucks that he has to work most nights."

"Hmm," Peyton agreed, relieved to hear Brooke had a good time.

"I actually wanted to ask you something," Brooke started, with a shy smile. "The only night he has off next week is Friday, so I kind of hoped-"

"Are you really considering ditching me for Chase?" Peyton held her hand to her heart, pretending to be hurt, "Brooke Penelope Davis, do I really have to remind you-"

"You don't," Brooke interrupted. "Hoes before bros, I know, I know," she pouted, "but I really, really like him."

"Fine," Peyton said, shaking her head but smiling. "You do your thing on Friday, but know that I will _never_ forget this. Never."

"Whatever," Brooke simply said, probably knowing better than to take her best friend serious.

"Whatever," Peyton echoed with a smile.

"In other exciting news," Brooke continued, "New York called me yesterday to let me know that I get to do a show at Fashion Week!"

"Brooke!" Peyton jumped up from her seat and ran over to her best friend to give her a hug, "Congratulations! That's so awesome."

"I know, right?" Brooke clapped her hands together rapidly. "A spot opened up last minute and New York pulled some strings and made it happen."

"New York did good, I have to admit," Peyton offered.

New York, otherwise known as Victoria, or Brooke's mother, had taken over the business side of Brooke's label around two years ago, when it all became a bit too much for Brooke to handle. Peyton wasn't a big fan of the woman and had often argued with her about the decisions she made regarding Brooke's life. They had gotten into a real bad argument right before Brooke and Peyton left New York, when Victoria accused Peyton of influencing her daughter's decisions too much and that she was just a parasite living off of Brooke's fame and fortune. Peyton had thrown these accusations right back at Victoria, and the two women hadn't spoken since. Brooke, knowing how delicate the subject was with Peyton, had referred to her mother as New York ever since.

"I would say we should go out for celebratory drinks on Friday, but _someone_ already has a date," Peyton teased.

Brooke stuck out her tongue, "Other than that date with Chase, I don't even have time for drinks. I have three weeks left to come up with five additional pieces for the show and I have absolutely no inspiration whatsoever."

"Ugh," Peyton shook her head, knowing how hard it was to have to work with such a tight deadline. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Not really," Brooke replied, "Unless you suddenly know how to design dresses?"

Peyton laughed and shook her head, "Nope. But I might have an idea."

Brooke squinted at her, "Ok."

"I'll get back to you about it, ok?" Peyton asked. When Brooke nodded she smiled, "Either way you definitely don't need me hanging around and distracting you," She got up and blew Brooke a kiss, "I'll call you tomorrow, ok? Now go sketch some gorgeous dresses."

"Bye babe," Brooke called from behind her desk, "Love you."

* * *

"Alright," Peyton looked around her classroom at the juniors in front of her, "it's been four weeks since I gave you the assignment to paint something prompted by _Love_ so it's time for me to judge your work. You have until the end of the class to finish your piece, please remember to either sign it or pin a piece of paper with your name on it, and I'll make sure I have them graded by next week." She gave the class a little nod to let them know she was done talking and sat down behind her desk.

She watched the students get back to their paintings and when she was content that everyone was working, she turned her attention to her lesson plan for the upcoming weeks. She hated coming up with subjects weeks in advance and rather just take things as they came, but Mr. Henderson wasn't the spontaneous type of principal.

"Miss Sawyer?" a quiet voice asked.

"Yes?" Peyton looked up and saw a girl standing in front of her. "What is it, Rose?"

"I was just wondering what the next assignment will be," the girl spoke quietly, "I think I'm done with this one."

"You think, or you know?" Peyton asked, her eyes narrowed. Rose was a very timid girl and didn't often speak up during class, but she was a really good painter and always full of inspiration. Peyton had been trying to get her out of her comfort zone a little, by trying to push her to speak her mind.

"I _know_ ," Rose replied, her voice a little louder.

"Good," Peyton nodded and smiled. She took a folder out of her drawer and handed it to the girl, "This isn't the official next assignment, and it won't earn you any points, but I think you'll like it."

Peyton watched as Rose opened the folder and saw excitement spread across the girl's face.

"Really?" Rose asked, pushing her glasses higher up her nose.

"Really," Peyton confirmed, "I would like you to design a pattern for five of the pieces for the upcoming Fashion Week show of _Clothes over Bros_."

Rose looked at her in shock, "But that's three weeks from now."

Peyton nodded, "I'm going to make your deadline even tighter; I need the design by next Monday."

"But Miss Sawyer-"

"No buts, Rose," Peyton interrupted the girl. "You can do this, ok? I have seen your work and I know you are passionate about geometry, and layouts, and fashion and everything else that you need to make a good pattern. I know this is something you are good at."

The girl blew her bangs out of her face and a determined look spread across her face, "Ok."

"Good," Peyton smiled, "Now, I want to be honest with you; I will give this assignment to two other students as well, so there's no guarantee that your design will make the cut, but I want you to give it your best, alright?"

Rose nodded, "I will."

"Ok," Peyton dismissed her with a wave of her hand, "Go do your thing, Rose."

* * *

"Ugh," Peyton wrinkled her nose when she saw what was for lunch that Thursday, "Enough with the soup already."

"I thought you liked soup," Haley piped up from behind her in the line.

"I like soup like maybe once or twice a year or so," Peyton shook her head to decline the bowl the lunch lady offered her. Instead she grabbed an extra roll from the counter, "but not every week." She waited for Haley to fill her tray before they walked back to the teacher's lounge on the other side of the cafeteria where Lucas was already waiting for them.

"No soup, Peyton?" Lucas asked with a grin.

"She doesn't like soup," Haley answered before Peyton had a chance to.

"How can you not like soup?" Lucas looked at Peyton, his brows knitted together in fake confusion.

"I know, right," Haley giggled. "What's not to love? I mean, you don't even have to chew."

Peyton rolled her eyes, "Stop it you two." She really liked Haley and Lucas, but sometimes their teasing was a bit too much for her. It didn't help that Haley and Lucas had been best friends since kindergarten and most of the time only needed half a word to understand what the other one was saying. They had so many inside jokes that Peyton had given up on trying to understand any of them.

"Fine," Haley agreed. "I've been meaning to ask, are you sitting in with me tomorrow afternoon? We're watching Romeo and Juliet."

"Eh," Peyton said slowly, "I think I'll skip this one."

"But it's the original version," Haley tried, "not that hot mess that _Baz Luhrmann_ directed."

"Sorry, Hales," Peyton shrugged, "Still not my cup of tea." She could tell Haley wanted to say something else to try and persuade her, but somehow decided against it.

"Fine," Haley said reluctantly. "I've been meaning to ask about Brooke and Chase anyway; how did their date go?"

"Chase Adams?" Lucas interrupted, surprised.

"Yeah," Haley nodded, "He's part owner of Tric now, and Peyton made Brooke ask him out."

"There's a little more to it than that," Peyton added with a smile. "But yeah, I told Brooke I have to chaperone at prom and she asked if she could make me a dress and I said she could, as long as she asked Chase out for a date."

"Ok," Lucas said slowly. "Sure. If that's how these things go these days then I'm all for it."

"You'll get the full story someday," Peyton assured him. She looked at Haley, "They're actually going on another date this Friday."

"That's great!" Haley sounded excited, but then furrowed her brows, "Don't you two usually go out for drinks on Friday?"

Peyton shrugged, "It was the only night he was available this week, so I don't mind skipping for once."

Haley's eyes suddenly lit up and she turned toward Lucas, "Luke, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Lucas was quiet for a moment, until he seemed to realise what Haley was talking about and then nodded, equally excited, "It would be perfect."

"We would need to get her a shirt though," Haley continued.

"Don't you have a spare?" Lucas asked her.

"Ok, stop," Peyton held up her hands, very confused by their conversation. "What are you talking about?"

"Bowling competition," Lucas and Haley said at the same time.

"Oh no," Peyton sputtered, "No, no, no, I'm not going bowling on a Friday night." Haley had told her once that she and Lucas liked to go bowling and were in some sort of competition at the local bowling alley. Already then she had feigned interest because to be honest, she thought bowling was pretty lame.

"Oh come on," Haley pleaded. "Joan and Allan have to go to their son's birthday so we're half a team short."

"Who in the world are Joan and Allan?" Peyton asked, even though she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"This couple we met at the bowling alley about a year ago," Haley replied with a big smile, "They asked us to be a part of their bowling team when we they saw us play and it has been great so far!"

"Yeah," Lucas added, "And Nathan has already agreed to take Allan's place and you would be perfect to take Joan's."

"Nathan?" Peyton asked, not sure if she knew him.

"My brother," Lucas explained. "He's more of a basketball player, but has bowled before."

"I don't know," Peyton hesitated, "I really suck at sports." And hate bowling, she wanted to add.

"Oh, come on," Haley said again. "You'll be fine. It's the second to last round in the competition and we're pretty secure in the lead, so-"

"So you can afford a crap game, you mean?" Peyton suggested. She laughed when she saw Haley's cheeks redden.

Lucas grinned, "Yeah, but we can't afford to not play this round, so you'd really help us out."

Peyton sighed, knowing she'd been guilt tripped into it, "Ok, fine. It's not like I have anything better to do."

"Yay," Haley clapped her hands. "This is going to be so much fun!"

* * *

It was after lunch that Thursday when she spotted a familiar black backpack covered in Nirvana and Green Day patches in front of her.

"Kevin," Peyton quickened her pace and caught up with the boy, who was probably on his way to another class. "Have you seen Jack around?"

The boy shrugged but continued walking, "Not really."

"Kevin," Peyton urged, and put her hand on his arm, willing him to stop. He did and she continued, "Is he ok?"

"I don't know," Kevin shrugged again, seemingly indifferent about how his best friend was doing.

Peyton could feel she was starting to lose her temper with his attitude, but she tried to keep control. She had been worried about Jack ever since the bathroom incident a couple of weeks; he hadn't been in any of her classes since, hadn't picked up the new books she had gotten for him, and she knew from other teachers that his attendance had been sporadic. She tried to call his parents, but had no luck reaching them so far. She hoped Kevin could tell her what was going on. "Well, if you see him, could you ask him to come by my classroom this week?"

The boy nodded, but Peyton wasn't convinced and watched him as he continued his way down the hall. She let out a sigh and walked back to her classroom.

* * *

 _Nathan will pick you up at seven, Lucas and I will meet you at the bowling alley. - Haley_

Peyton read Haley's text message again, as she grabbed her purse and keys. It was five minutes to seven and she figured she might as well wait outside for Lucas' brother. She locked her front door and went down the stairs, to the main entrance. Her apartment was on the top floor of the three-story building, which was the main reason why she had bought the place.

"You have got to be kidding me," Peyton said as she pushed the entrance door open and saw who was waiting for her, leaning against his car.

"Good evening, ma'am," the man said with a grin, "I believe we have a bowling game to get to."

"You're Lucas' brother?" Peyton asked, even though she already knew the answer by now.

"Nathan Scott," he nodded and gave her a wink.

Peyton shook her head, "Peyton Sawyer," she replied automatically even though he already knew her name.

"Let me assure you that to me you will always be the woman with the fine looking taillights," Nathan commented with a smirk. He walked over to the passenger side of his truck and held the door open for her.

Peyton sat down, not saying anything else, not sure what to say to the police officer who turned out to be Lucas' brother. But then she remembered how Brooke always told her to open up more, so she decided to make an effort. She waited for Nathan to sit down before she spoke again, "So, bowling tonight."

"Yeah," Nathan started the car and drove off. "Apparently there's quite the competition going on here in Tree Hill."

"Hmm," Peyton agreed, "Haley and Lucas seem to be pretty good at it."

"Yeah," Nathan confirmed. "They won the championship last year and this year they have been in the lead ever since the first round. They even went to the state championships last summer."

"Shut up," Peyton said, surprised, she never knew how serious they were about it until now. "So, I actually have to try tonight?"

"You better," Nathan replied with a grin. "Or you'll be banned from bowling with them forever."

Peyton laughed, "I'm not sure that's a good incentive to make me try hard."

"Not a fan of bowling, then?" Nathan asked.

"Not a fan of sports in general," Peyton admitted.

"I wouldn't say that out loud here in Tree Hill," Nathan suggested.

"Yeah, I heard basketball is a pretty big thing here, right?"

Nathan nodded, "The Tree Hill Ravens are pretty good. They won State two years in a row when I was in high school." He pulled up onto the parking lot of the bowling alley and turned the engine off.

"No shit," Peyton opened her door and stepped outside. "Did you play?"

"Yes ma'am," Nathan said with a grin, following her to the entrance, "Point guard for three years, and at varsity level for two."

"I have no idea what either of those things mean," Peyton laughed, "but I'm sure you were great."

"You should really go see a game some time," Nathan suggested, "The atmosphere is great."

"Yeah," Peyton shrugged, "I don't know." She walked past Nathan who held the door open for her.

"There they are," he said with a nod in the direction of the bowling lanes on their right.

* * *

"Thank you so much, again," Haley said while she gave Peyton a hug. "I can't believe you actually threw three strikes."

"Me neither," Peyton let go of Haley and smiled at her friend. "I'm glad you guys are still in the lead."

"Thanks for helping us out, Peyton," Lucas gave her a kiss on the cheek before he turned to his brother, "And you too, Nathan."

"Sure," Nathan nodded, "Glad to see _team Ravens_ had another win tonight."

"You guys drive safe, ok?" Haley waved as she got into Lucas' car, "See you on Monday, Peyton!"

"Bye," Peyton waved back and followed Nathan to his car.

"I'm so glad that's over," Nathan said over his shoulder as he unlocked the door for Peyton. "They _really_ need to take it less serious." He was referring to the scolding he had received from Lucas when he had hit the gutter two times in a row.

"I actually had a good time," Peyton said, surprised at her confession. She watched as Nathan rounded the car after he closed her door and waited until he sat down before she continued, "But I agree; Lucas shouldn't have gone off on you like that."

Nathan shrugged, "He's my older brother, that's what he does." He started the car and turned onto Shipyard Boulevard.

Peyton looked at Nathan, "You two look so different."

Nathan smiled but kept his eyes on the road. "Same dad, different moms," he said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Peyton replied. She was hesitate to ask more questions, not sure how comfortable Nathan was talking about it, but before she had a chance to change the subject, Nathan already continued.

"My dad's an asshole," He glanced at her and gave an apologetic smile, "I hate to say it but it's true. He knocked up Lucas' mom in senior year of high school and before Lucas was even born he'd already left her and did the same to my mom. We're only seven months apart."

"Oh," Peyton said again.

"My mom and he were married for sixteen years before she realised she could do better and divorced him," he shook his head, "I haven't seen him since. Don't regret it either."

Peyton was about to say she would give anything to see her parents again, but swallowed her words, deciding that she didn't know Nathan well enough to share her story. Instead she put her hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Nathan smiled at her. "It's just the way it is."

"Yeah, but still," Peyton shrugged, "It sucks."

"Let's talk about something else," Nathan suggested. "Like how we kicked ass at bowling tonight."

"I kicked ass at bowling," Peyton let out a laugh, "You would have done so much better if Lucas had just put the bumpers up."

"Oh, not fair," Nathan complained, "I just needed some time to get into the game."

"Yeah, like three rounds," Peyton said under her breath, but loud enough for Nathan to hear.

"Say what?" Nathan responded. He gave her a stern look, but his eyes twinkled "You keep this up and next time I see you driving around with a broken taillight I won't be so nice."

"Oh," Peyton scoffed, "Whatever."

"Yeah whatever," Nathan said, pulling over. "Get out of the car, ma'am."

"Ha. Ha," Peyton said slowly, when she realised they were in her parking lot. She unbuckled her seat belt before she turned to Nathan, "But seriously, thanks for driving me home."

"No problem at all," Nathan said with a smile. "I'll see you around then?"

Peyton laughed as she got out of the car. "That you will," she said before she closed the door and watched as Nathan drove off.

* * *

It was another Monday, just after lunch, when Peyton walked back to her classroom. She had another two freshmen classes to get through today and hoped they showed a little more progress in their assignment than the first freshmen class that morning.

She had asked them to put together a mood board that would reflect their first year in high school, and when only a couple of students could show her their work this morning, she was worried the assignment maybe was a little bit too abstract for the first years. She was trying to come up with ways to motivate the kids when she heard a voice call her from behind.

"Miss Sawyer?"

Peyton turned around and was met by a smiling Rose, "Yes?"

"I wanted to give you this," the girl handed her a large folder. "I hope Miss Davis likes them."

"These are amazing, Rose," Peyton said with a smile when she took a quick look at the work inside. "And right on time too."

The girl shrugged, "I really liked the assignment, so it was actually quite easy."

"Good," Peyton nodded, "I will give these to Brooke and let you know what she thinks, ok?"

Rose nodded before she continued to her next class.

* * *

"They are gorgeous, Peyton," Brooke raved as she looked through the designs Rose had turned in.

"I know," Peyton agreed. "I knew she had it in her, but I never knew she was this good."

"Looks like your little plan worked," Brooke said. She was referring to the fact that while Peyton had told Rose two other students would also get a chance to design patterns for Brooke's Fashion Week line, in reality Rose was the only one who had gotten the assignment. Peyton had hoped it would bring out the girl's competitive side and make her push her limits. It had. The patterns Rose had created ranged from abstract black and white shapes, very clean, very geometrical, to a pattern where the colours seemed to blend into one another effortlessly.

"Very sneaky, _Miss_ Sawyer," Brooke added with a grin. "I'm going to send these to New York and see what she thinks, but I've already decided we're going to use the coloured pattern, it's just too gorgeous not to!"

Peyton smiled, proud of her student, "I'll let her know."

"No, wait," Brooke thought for a second. Her eyes lit up when she continued, "Don't tell her anything yet, ok? I want to surprise her."

"What do you have in mind?" Peyton asked.

"Can't tell you yet," Brooke stuck out her tongue when she saw Peyton roll her eyes, "It will be great, P., promise."

"Fine," Peyton sat back in her chair. They were seated at Brooke's kitchen table, where Brooke had just served them a home-cooked meal. Peyton had suggested they'd meet up after work, instead of their usual Monday night phone call, and Brooke had offered to make dinner. Peyton took another sip of her wine, "So, how's Chase?"

"Good," Brooke smiled, "We actually spent the night at his place on Friday. He made dinner and we watched some movies, and oh," she sighed dreamily, "it was just perfect."

"Does this mean you're ditching me again this Friday?" Peyton teased. She wouldn't mind if Brooke did, she knew how much her best friend longed for a relationship and Peyton sure as hell wasn't going to get in the way of that.

"Don't know yet," Brooke confessed. "I think he told me he'd try to get Saturday off instead, but he had to talk to Owen first." She looked upset, "I'm really sorry about this, Peyton."

"Honestly, Brooke, don't worry about it," Peyton assured her. "Maybe there's another bowling competition I can go to," she joked.

"And have a chance to hang out with that handsome police officer again, I'm sure," Brooke retorted with a wink. Brooke had pressured Peyton to tell her all about her Friday night, and Peyton was sure she wouldn't hear the end of it for a long time.

"His name is Nathan," Peyton replied, "and he's Lucas's brother."

"So?" Brooke took a sip of wine, "I don't see the problem."

"It's just weird," Peyton shook her head. "Lucas is best friends with Haley, and then Nathan's is his brother and they all know each other and-"

"Peyton," Brooke interrupted, "you're doing it again. You really need to stop putting up these walls. Just have some fun with that guy, see where it goes. You don't owe Lucas or Haley anything."

"I know," Peyton agreed with a sigh. She knew Brooke was right, but she also knew Brooke was making a much bigger deal out of this than it was. She only went bowling with him and probably wouldn't see him again for a long time.

"Good," Brooke looked pleased, "So maybe call him sometime this week, huh?"

* * *

Peyton walked around her living room barefoot, her hair in a messy bun, and paint covering her hands and clothes. The Cure's _I Will Always Love You_ was blasting through her speakers and she quietly hummed along. It was Saturday and Peyton had been painting all day, working on a piece for Haley's birthday that was coming up next month. So far there was a lot of yellow covering the canvas, a colour she associated with Haley. It was easily the brightest piece she had ever made and certainly the most colourful thing in her living room. It felt out of place in her apartment, where the walls were a dark grey colour that looked almost black. The only hint of colour came from an antique cabinet, which used to be a dull brown, but which her mother had painted a vivid orange. It was the only piece of furniture she had taken with her from New York and one of the few things she still had from her parents.

Peyton looked at the clock and saw it was already five in the afternoon. No wonder she was feeling hungry, she thought to herself, she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. A quick look inside her fridge told her it was empty except for a jar of pickles and some mayonaise. She sighed heavily, cursing her own inability to make sure her fridge and pantry were well-stocked. She grabbed her car keys from the dining table and put her sneakers on, deciding she might as well go grocery shopping now, as there was not enough natural light left to continue painting. Grabbing an old NYU hoodie from the sofa, she headed outside.

It was a lot colder than she thought it would be, and if she had been in New York she would expect snow to start falling soon, but here in North Carolina snow was an exception rather than a rule. For a second she debated going back inside to get a coat and scarf, but she figured she'd be in and out of the supermarket quick enough to not need them. There was a Wholefoods down on Oleander Drive that was just a short drive from her house. Peyton usually didn't care if her food was organic or not, but they carried a particular brand of coffee that she liked.

The parking lot was almost empty when she pulled up, and she hurried inside. She was met with calming pan flute music which she hated and the smell of freshly baked bread that made her stomach growl. When she saw all the hearts that decorated the aisles and ceiling she realized it was Valentine's Day today and it made her feel even worse. She grabbed a basket and made a quick round through the store, again only picking up the essentials instead of finally stocking up. She reasoned she'd go shopping for real later this week, after work some time, when all these Valentine's Day decorations would be gone.

Peyton was standing in front of the white wine selection when she heard someone calling her name. She turned to where the sound came from and smiled when she saw Rose coming toward her, "Hi Rose. I didn't know you worked here."

"Miss Sawyer," the girl started, excitement written on her face and completely ignoring what Peyton had just said, "You won't believe what happened today!" Without waiting for a reply Rose continued, "Miss Davis," she shook her head, "I mean, Brooke, called me this morning to tell me that she picked one of my designs for her dresses!"

"That's great, Rose!" Peyton said with a smile.

"But that's not even the best thing," Rose bounced on her feet, "She invited me and my mom to come see her show at Fashion Week!"

"Oh Rose, that's amazing," Peyton gave the girl a hug. "You totally deserve it!"

"I'm so excited," the girl exclaimed, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "I've never been to New York before."

"You'll have a great time," Peyton reassured her. "Let me know if you need a place to stay, ok? I still have some friends living there."

"Oh no, that's ok, Brooke said she'd take care of everything."

Peyton wasn't surprised to hear that Brooke had offered to pay for the entire trip; she always went above and beyond for everyone. Peyton smiled at the girl, "You really had some great designs, Rose. You should look into doing something with that."

Rose nodded, "I will, thank you Miss Sawyer."

A voice came through the intercom, requesting assistance in the fresh produce section. "That's me," Rose said with a smile, "See you later, Miss Sawyer."

"Bye Rose," Peyton said and gave a quick wave, "See you on Tuesday."

* * *

"Brooke," Peyton said when she picked up the phone, not even looking at the caller ID. It was Monday night, so the only person that would call her was her best friend. In fact, Brooke was the only person that called her, period.

"Peyton!" Brooke exclaimed, happiness running through her voice, "How are you, babe?"

"Not nearly as excited as you are, apparently," Peyton replied with a sigh. She was pacing around her living room, too restless to sit down.

"Oh, don't start, Peyton," Brooke shot back, "I'll call back tomorrow."

"No, no," Peyton shook her head even though Brooke couldn't see her, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"I know," Brooke said with a soothing voice, "but maybe next time don't pick up if you don't feel like talking, ok? I know that this a difficult week for you, but there's no need to take it out on me."

"Noted," Peyton agreed. She stood in front of her window and watched as lightning lit up the sky. They had predicted heavy thunderstorms for tonight, and Peyton loved watching them from her living room. Being on the third floor of the apartment building meant that she had a clear view of the sky, not like her apartment in New York where all she could see where other apartments.

"Good," Brooke continued, "Now ask me about my Valentine's Day."

Peyton couldn't help but smile, "How was your Valentine's Day, Brooke?"

"Amazing," Brooke exclaimed, "Chase went all out; flowers, dinner, a romantic stroll on the beach-"

"A little making out, I'm sure," Peyton added. Another flash of lightning lit up the sky and was followed by loud thunder immediately.

"Definitely," Brooke replied. She let out a sigh, "I really like him, Peyton."

"But?" Peyton asked, hearing the hesitation in Brooke's voice.

"But he's so," Brooke hesitated, "Blah."

" _Blah_?" Peyton asked, surprised at Brooke's choice of words.

"Yeah," Brooke confessed. She explained; "I need someone who's on the same level, you know? Who isn't afraid to call me out on my bullshit, or when I'm working too hard."

"Like me, you mean?" Peyton asked with a grin.

"Exactly!"

"You've only been on three dates with him, Brooke," Peyton reasoned, "Something like that takes time. Hell, it took me twenty years to perfect."

"Yeah," Brooke said hesitantly, "I don't know. Maybe I'm expecting too much."

"Or maybe you should just go on another date with him, and talk to him about it," Peyton suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," Brooke agreed. "Anyway, enough about me, how are you holding up?"

Peyton shrugged, "Same as every year, I guess."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to New York on Friday? Take the day off? I' could come with you," Brooke offered.

"I'm sure," Peyton replied, "There's nothing for me in New York, Brooke. They're as much there as they are here."

"I know," Brooke spoke softly. "I guess we'll skip drinks on Friday then?"

"I'll let you know, ok?"

"Sure," Brooke hesitated, but continued, "I know I don't have to tell you this, but I'm here for you, Peyton. Don't shut me out, ok?"

"Ok," Peyton agreed. "I'll call you."

"Love you, P. Sawyer,"

"Love you, B. Davis." Peyton hung up and turned around. Her eyes fell on the picture frame that was set atop the orange cabinet. Her eyes filled with tears when she saw the picture of her parents smiling back at her. It was taken on Valentine's Day, a week before her mother died in a car crash, when Peyton was only eight years old. Anna Sawyer was on her way to pick her daughter up from school, when she ran a red light because she was running late, and didn't see the truck that came from the left.

Her father passed away when his boat sank at sea during a violent storm making Peyton an orphan at only eighteen. Eight years later Peyton still wondered whether it was coincidence, fate, or bad luck that her father died on the same day her mother did.

* * *

It was Tuesday afternoon, after classes, and Peyton was headed to the teacher's parking lot when she saw him. "Jack," Peyton said, trying to get the boy's attention. When he didn't respond, she tried again, louder this time, "Jack!" She ran across the court and caught up with the boy who was about to get into the passenger's side of a car that Peyton doubted belonged to a student.

"Hi Miss Sawyer," the boy said with a wicked smile, as if he hadn't skipped four classes in a row.

"Jack," Peyton said again, a little out of breath because of the running, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

The boy hesitated, dipped his head inside the car and said something to driver before he turned around, "I'm kind of in a hurry."

"And I kind of haven't seen you in my class for a while now," Peyton countered. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," the boy said with a shrug, "But I don't think Visual Arts is for me anymore."

"Bullshit," Peyton said, hoping none of the teachers or students heard her swear. "There's something going on, Jack, and I'd rather you just be honest with me, than avoid me."

"I really should go," Jack insisted, turning around to get into the car.

"At least come pick up your new books tomorrow," Peyton tried. "You need them." She was surprised when Jack didn't reply and instead closed the door. She watched as the car drove off and felt like she was missing something.

* * *

Peyton took another sip of her whiskey and felt the amber liquid burn her throat. She stared into the distance, the waves crashing on the beach as the soundtrack to her misery. It was Friday night, and instead of having drinks at Tric with Brooke, she was sat on the beach with a half-empty bottle of whiskey and a feeling of melancholy that came over her once a year. It was the Friday after Valentine's Day and the anniversary of her parents' deaths and Peyton preferred to spend it alone, no matter how much she knew Brooke also mourned her parents.

She closed her eyes for a second and tried to bring her parents back to life, tried to hear their voices again, see their faces in front of her. Instead she felt someone sit down next to her and she sighed, annoyed that she was no longer alone.

"I was about to fine you for parking in a no-parking zone," a deep voice came from beside her, "but I can let that one go as long as you promise to leave you car there until you're sober enough again to drive." He held up the bottle that sat between them and whistled, "How long have you been here?"

Peyton grabbed the bottled and rolled her eyes, not looking at him, "That bottle has already lasted me eight years, don't worry."

"Peyton-"

"It was a Christmas gift for my Dad, but then he died two months later and I found the bottle unopened in a cabinet when I had to empty the house so it could be put up for sale. Every year on this day I drink a glass to remember him," Peyton explained, not caring whether she sounded cold or not, "So I appreciate your concern, but I can handle a glass of whiskey."

"I'm not saying you can't," Nathan replied, keeping calm, "I'm just saying you shouldn't drive home."

"Or what, you'll arrest me?"

"If I have to, yes," Nathan simply stated.

Peyton looked at him and furrowed her brows, when she saw he wasn't wearing his uniform, "You're not even on duty."

"No, but my colleagues are," Nathan shrugged.

"What are you even doing here then?" Peyton asked, venom seeping through her voice. She took another sip of her drink and stared at the ocean again.

"I saw your car on my way home and wanted to make sure you were ok," Nathan explained.

"Well, I'm not," Peyton shot back, tears welling up in her eyes. She didn't know if it was because she was frustrated that he was still talking to her, or if she was touched that someone actually cared enough to check up on her.

"I know," Nathan spoke quietly.

Peyton bit her lip, still not looking at him, "Thank you."

Nathan shrugged, "Don't worry about it." He got up and brushed the sand from his jeans, "Listen, I live right over there," he pointed at a white beach house to her left, "come find me when you're ready to go home, ok? I'll drive you."

Peyton nodded, "Ok."

* * *

"Nathan?" Peyton carefully stepped inside, not sure if she was allowed or not. It was just after midnight and even though she didn't want to burden him, she knew the responsible thing to do was to let him drive her home.

"Over here," his voice came from somewhere on the other side of the house, and Peyton walked across the kitchen to what she figured was the living room where she found him in front of the TV, watching a basketball game.

She narrowed her eyes when a familiar face flashed across the screen, "Is that Lucas?"

Nathan nodded and smiled, "Yeah, I was just watching some old footage from when we were in high school."

She then recognized number 23, "That's you?"

Nathan nodded again, "Yep."

"You look so young," Peyton said with a smile, "How old were you there?"

"Eighteen, I think," Nathan replied. "This was when we won State for the second year."

"No shit," Peyton sat down next to him while she kept her eyes on the screen, "I didn't know you were actually _part_ of the team that won the championships." She referred to what he told her the night they went bowling. "Why did you stop playing?"

"An old knee injury prevented me from playing at college level,"

Peyton noticed a hint of sadness in his voice, "That sucks."

"Yeah," Nathan agreed, "So I became a cop."

Peyton let out a laugh, "Yeah, because that's a logical next step."

"It isn't?" Nathan asked, faking surprise.

"Not really, no," Peyton countered. She watched the game unfold and smiled when the final buzzer rang and the players celebrated their win.

Nathan turned the TV off and got up, "Come on, let's get you home."

"I can still call a cab," Peyton offered, but she followed him outside and hoped he would tell her not to. She liked his company and hadn't felt this at ease with someone for a long time. For a short time while watching the game she had even forgotten about her parents.

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that," Nathan said as he unlocked his car and held the door open for her.

Peyton sat down and fastened her seatbelt, waiting for him to get inside. When he did she turned toward him, "Thank you."

Nathan smiled at her, "It's the least I can do."

* * *

"Peyton," Haley said a little out of breath as she caught up with her friend on their way to lunch that Thursday.

"What's up?"

"I know it's a little last-minute, but I haven't really had the chance to speak to you this week and I wanted to ask you before you leave for New York tomorrow," Haley smiled.

"Spill it," Peyton said with a smile.

"I wanted to invite you to the party Lucas and I are throwing for our birthdays two weeks from now," Haley pushed the door to the cafeteria open and waited for Peyton to pass her before she continued, "you'll get an official invite some time next week, but I wanted to give you a heads up-"

"About what?" Peyton asked, knowing Haley well enough that there probably was more to the invitation than she let on.

"We kind of always have a theme party," Haley confessed, "and it kind of involves dressing up."

"Haley," Peyton whined but with a grin.

"I know it's not really your thing," Haley apologized, "but I'd love for you to come. The theme this year is famous movie characters."

"Brooke woulds so love this," Peyton muttered under her breath while grabbing a plate of fries.

"So bring her along," Haley suggested with a big smile. "I've always wanted to meet her and this way you won't have to come alone."

Peyton thought about it for a second and then smiled; popping a fry in her mouth, "Deal."

"Alright," Haley gave her a wink. "It's going to be so much fun!"

* * *

Peyton practically ran through the airport to where the cabs were lined up. She knew she was pushing it and hoped rush hour hadn't started yet. She was on her way to Brooke's show at Fashion Week, and hadn't it been for the delayed departure because of a missing passenger she would have been there already, but now she prayed for a miracle to get there on time.

She would much rather have taken the day off, but Mr. Henderson didn't allow her to because it was the last day before Spring Break and he didn't want her senior classes to have to miss any classes. And so she had to rush to the airport after her classes ended and still hadn't changed into the outfit Brooke had asked her to wear. She figured she would to that en route in the cab.

She got into the first available cab and told the driver the address, trying to catch her breath. She promised him a fifty dollar tip if he kept his eyes on the road and swore she'd subtract five dollars every time he looked in the rear view mirror while she changed. Pulling her top off she grabbed the garment bag and pulled out the dress Brooke had given her earlier this week. It was a part of the _Clothes over Bros_ winter collection and made especially with Peyton in mind; a black body hugging dress that made her curvier than she was and accentuated exactly that what needed accentuating.

It took some effort to get into the dress and the cab driver had already lost twenty dollars by the time she put on her shoes, but she was ready to go when they pulled up in front of Lincoln Center. Peyton handed the man the fare for the ride and the promised thirty dollar tip and got out quickly. She had five minutes until the show would start and she still had to find a place to store her bags. Another big tip to the girl manning the coat check to keep an eye on her belongings meant she made it to her seat just in time. Before Peyton had a chance to see where Rose was seated the lights were dimmed and the music started playing.

* * *

The show was over before Peyton knew it and she felt immensely proud when Brooke took the stage. She clapped and cheered, not caring about the looks she got from the people sitting beside her on the front row. Brooke shook her head at her, but smiled and quickly stuck her tongue out at Peyton.

Peyton watched as her best friend exited the stage and waited until most people had left the room before she made her way back to where she left her things.

"Miss Sawyer!"

Peyton turned around and smiled when she saw Rose and her mother walking toward her, "Hi Rose."

Rose was all charged up, her cheeks red with excitement, "Did you see my patterns, Miss Sawyer? Can you believe Brooke actually used them?"

Peyton smiled, "I told you they were good." She held out her hand to the older woman, "Hello Mrs Oliver, it's nice to finally meet you."

"Thank you so much for everything," Mrs Oliver said as she shook Peyton's hand, "It's been an amazing day."

"Your daughter earned it," Peyton smiled, "She's an amazing artist."

"Thank you," Mrs Oliver said again and put her arm around her daughter, "I always knew she was special."

"Mom," Rose rolled her eyes, not used to all the attention.

"If I remember correctly," Peyton looked at her watch, "You two have dinner and a Broadway show to get to." Brooke had told her she arranged tickets to _Wicked_ for Rose and her Mom, after Peyton told her she'd heard Rose talk about really wanting to go see the show one time during class.

Rose nodded enthusiastically, "Thank you once again, Miss Sawyer. I'll see you in a week."

Peyton said goodbye to Rose and her mother and wished Rose a good Spring Break. She made her way to the coat check and retrieved her bags. Brooke had told her to wait for her there so they could grab dinner and drinks after, and so she did.

* * *

"Good morning, sunshine," Brooke said with a smile as she jumped on Peyton's bed in their shared hotel room.

Peyton groaned in reply, still dealing with the aftermath of yesterday's cocktails.

"I got us coffee," Brooke offered.

"That was my job," Peyton said into her pillow. She turned onto her back and looked at her best friend, "You're Fashion Week famous now, B. Davis, you shouldn't be getting us coffee. If anything you should hire someone to get us coffee."

"Pff," Brooke scoffed, "Promise me you'll slap me if I ever start acting that crazy."

"Promise," Peyton said with a wicked grin. She sat up and took the cup from Brooke, "You're a lifesaver, though."

"I know," Brooke smiled and took a sip of her coffee.

"And an amazing designer," Peyton added. "Seriously that show was incredible, Brooke."

"Thanks, babe," Brooke gave her a nod. "I'm so glad that it's over though, I'm done stressing about lighting plans, and dresses not fitting as they should and models that are way too thin."

"Next time you'll have to bring your own models," Peyton suggested certain that there would be a next time.

"We'll see," Brooke replied. She put her hand on Peyton's and squeezed it, "I have been so busy all week that I forgot to ask how you are doing? Are you ok?"

Peyton knew she was referring to last Friday, when she had opted out of drinks with Brooke because of her parents. Brooke had left for New York that Saturday, and Peyton had only spoken to her over the phone once since then. "Yeah, I'm good,"

"For real?" Brooke asked, a concerned look on her face.

"For real." Peyton assured her. She hadn't told Brooke about how Nathan drove her home that Friday night, because she knew Brooke would make a much bigger deal out of it than it was.

Brooke gave her a hug, "I love you, P. Sawyer."

"Love you too," Peyton replied. She let go of Brooke and smiled, "So, what are we doing today?"

* * *

 _Reviews are appreciated :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN:**_ _Thank you for the reviews you left on the last chapter and I apologize for not updating any sooner – hate it when my muse goes MIA just like that…  
I hope you'll like the new chapter, which is kind of long, but also kind of needed to get the rest of the story going.  
As always, reviews are appreciated :)_

* * *

 **MARCH**

"I can't believe she went for it!" Brooke exclaimed once again, bouncing up and down in her seat.

Peyton smiled at her best friend, "It's going to be amazing, Brooke."

They were on a plane home back from New York after their trip to the city for New York Fashion Week. Brooke had had a meeting with her mother; CEO of Clothes over Bros, earlier that morning and while Peyton knew Brooke could be very convincing when she wanted to, she also knew that Brooke seemed to be a little less confident when she was up against Victoria.

Brooke had only told her about her plans to open a store the day after her Fashion Week show, but Peyton had immediately supported the idea. It seemed like such a logical next step for Brooke's company that Peyton was surprised they hadn't thought of it sooner.

"My own store, Peyton," Brooke grabbed her best friend's arm and squeezed it tight, "I can't believe it. I can't believe New York actually approved it!"

"I always knew you had it in you," Peyton said proudly. "And I guess New York knows it too."

"I'm so excited," Brooke clapped her hands, not caring about the looks she got from the other passengers. "So excited."

* * *

Friday after Spring Break brought a surprise for Peyton when Jack walked into her class after lunch. She raised her eyebrows at him when he sat down, but he just shrugged like he hadn't been absent the past few weeks.

Peyton decided not to push her luck and left him alone. Instead she leaned against her desk and folded her arms in front of her once all the kids were seated, "So nice to see you all here again today. I hope you had a great Spring Break but, like after Christmas Break, I'm going to refer you to Miss James' class for all your stories, as we have got more important things to do, like prom."

A few of the girls immediately sat up and looked at her with excited faces.

"Now that we have somewhat established the theme, it's time to get started on decorations, flyers, and tickets," Peyton said with a smile, "I want you all to go back to the same groups as you were in when we first started with this project and I will hand out different tasks to each group. Off you go."

She watched as the kids found their group members and was surprised when Jack and Kevin wasted no time in dragging their chairs to sit with Sarah and Scottie.

As she walked around the classroom she handed each group their specific tasks and answered any questions the kids might had. When she returned to her desk she clapped her hands together once to get everybody's attention and cleared her throat, "I just wanted to remind you that you only have two weeks to finish this, ok? So get going."

All during class she kept glancing over at Sarah and Scottie's table, but it seemed like the girls actually got along with Jack and Kevin; they were smiling and talking to the boys enthusiastically. The boys, in return, really seemed to make an effort and even though Peyton still wasn't sure what to do about Jack, she was happy with today's developments.

* * *

"Are you sure she'll like it?" Brooke asked for the third time while she followed Peyton toward Lucas' house.

"Very sure," Peyton said over her shoulder. Brooke had picked out a dress from this year's Clothes over Bros Spring collection to give to Haley as a birthday present but was uncertain whether or not Haley would like it, not in the least because Brooke had never met Haley before. "But then again, Haley would be just as happy with a pet rock," Peyton said with a grin.

" _You_ would be happy with a pet rock," Brooke muttered under her breath, "probably name it Alfredo and let it sleep in your bed too."

"You're damn right I would," Peyton replied, laughing now because of the look Brooke threw her. "Pet rocks are seriously underrated, Brooke."

Brooke shook her head at her best friend's remarks, but let out a laugh as well, "You should have dressed like one, then."

"I should have," Peyton agreed while she looked down at her outfit, "It would have been a hell of a lot more comfortable."

Peyton had let Brooke talk her into dressing up as Cher from the movie _Clueless_ , which was Brooke's favourite movie in high school. They must have watched it at least thirty times back in junior year and Peyton remembered Brooke once copied all of Cher's outfits for an entire month, to let everyone know how much she identified with Cher.

So now, thanks to Brooke, she was wearing a yellow plaited skirt and blazer, together with knee high white socks and black t-strap shoes to recreate one of Cher's most iconic outfits. Brooke had even persuaded her to straighten her unruly curls to complete the look.

"Oh, stop," Brooke shot back, "You look amazing, who cares if you're comfortable or not."

"It's just that the skirt is so short, Brooke," Peyton complained, trying to pull it down.

Brooke swatted her hands away from the garment, "It's covering your ass, Peyton, that's all that matters."

Before Peyton could reply the front door swung open and they were greeted by Haley, who was dressed up as Molly Ringwald's character Claire from _The Breakfast Club_.

"You look great, Haley," Peyton said and gave her friend a hug, "Happy birthday."

"Thank you," Haley smiled back at her, "Or should I say 'as if'?" She looked over Peyton's shoulder at Brooke and her smile grew even wider, "Hey, you must be Brooke."

Brooke nodded, "Thanks so much for inviting me."

"Of course," Haley stepped around Peyton and gave Brooke a hug, "It's so nice to finally meet you! And you look _amazing_ , by the way."

"Thank you," Brooke replied with a smile, "and happy birthday."

"Let's go inside," Haley suggested, "Almost everyone is here already."

Peyton and Brooke followed Haley inside to the back of the house where the kitchen was. There were about ten people gathered in there, all dressed up as different movie characters. Haley and Lucas' birthdays were only two days apart and Haley had told Peyton that ever since they turned five they celebrated their birthdays together and almost always had a dress up party. Last year it was famous authors, the year before that it was cartoon characters, and this year the theme was movie characters.

Peyton saw Lucas walk toward them from the other side of the kitchen and smiled when she recognised his costume because it was one of the movies she had watched in Haley's class earlier this year. "Mr. Gatsby," she said as she gave him a hug and handed him his present, "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Cher" Lucas said with a grin.

"You know Clueless?" Brooke piped up from behind Peyton.

"Of course," Lucas said, holding his hand to his heart and pretending to be offended. He stood up straight and looked at Brooke, "So okay, I don't want to be a traitor to my generation and all, but I don't get how guys dress today. I mean, come on, it looks like they just fell out of bed and put on some baggy pants and take their greasy hair – ew – and cover it up with a backwards cap and like, we're expected to swoon? I don't think so."

Brooke squealed and clapped her hands, "Oh my god, I think I love you."

"Just ignore her," Peyton said to Lucas, rolling her eyes, but with a smile. "And please don't quote anymore Clueless to her unless you want her to marry you and have your babies."

"Jay Gatsby and Cruella de Vil," Lucas said as he looked at Brooke's outfit, "I can see it."

"Totally," Brooke agreed.

* * *

"Oh, thank you so much," Haley said once again, "I really, really like it."

"Told you so," Peyton said as she bumped shoulders with Brooke. She watched as Haley held the dress in front of her and admired the fabric. She carefully folded the dress and put it back in the wrapping paper before she grabbed Peyton's painting, "And this too, Peyton, it's beautiful."

What started as a yellow canvas was transformed into a winter landscape with a single streetlight giving off a yellow glow, with snow covering the street, cars, and trees.

"Let me go put this somewhere safe, and then I'll come back to introduce you to everyone, ok?" Haley said with a smile. "Just help yourself to something to drink and some cake."

"Definitely," Brooke replied. She turned towards Peyton with her eyes twinkling, "Let's go get us some of that delicious looking cake, bestie."

"You've been eyeing that cake every since we walked in here, haven't you?" Peyton followed Brooke to the other side of the kitchen and grabbed two plates from the counter, waiting for Brooke to cut them a piece.

"Don't you know it," Brooke answered. Peyton always admired Brooke for living so healthy; she always at a lot of vegetables and fruit and exercised almost daily, but the one thing she couldn't resist was cake and Peyton had often used this to her advantage if she needed something from Brooke.

"Care to hand me a plate as well, woman I don't know the costume of?"

Peyton turned around, recognising the voice, and smiled when she saw Nathan's eyes widen.

"Holy shit," he muttered under his breath, but quickly regained his composure. "I didn't recognise you there, Peyton."

"It's Cher, actually," Peyton said in her most Valley-girl accent, "but I guess Batman has other priorities."

"Yeah, like getting cake," Brooke chimed in. She held out her hand, "You must be Nathan, I'm Brooke."

"Nice to meet you," Nathan said as he shook her hand. His eyes fell back on Peyton and he shook his head, "You look so different."

"It's the hair," Peyton confirmed, "Brooke made me do it."

"Yea-ah," Brooke agreed, while turning her attention back to the cake, "Because it makes you look hot."

Nathan grinned and nodded, "She has a point, you know."

"Oh, smooth," Brooke said under her breath.

"Brooke," Peyton said through clenched teeth, knowing all too well how embarrassing this could get, "just focus on the cake, please."

"Noted," Brooke said quietly, but added, "He's hot, go for it," loud enough for Nathan to hear.

Nathan let out a laugh, "I like her."

"So do I," Peyton sighed, "Most of the time, anyway."

* * *

"So," Brooke said slowly, and took a sip of her drink, "you and Lucas. Ever hook up?"

It was well after midnight and most of the guests, like Haley's parents and sisters had already left. Lucas was in the living room with Nathan and a bunch of his friends, some of which had crazy nicknames like Junk, Skills and Mouth, if Peyton remembered correctly. They were watching a rerun of tonight's Bobcats basketball game, while the girls were still in the kitchen with Haley.

Haley choked on her drink and coughed, "No. No way." She shook her head, "We're just friends."

"You grew up together, right?" Peyton offered.

Haley nodded, "Yep, my parents moved into the house next to Karen and Lucas right after I turned four, and we have been best friends ever since he showed me how to catch fireflies that next summer."

"Never had any feelings for him?" Brooke tried again.

Haley pulled a face, "Ew no, he's like my brother."

"So?" Brooke shrugged with a grin. "Speaking of brothers," she continued, "ever hook up with that handsome brother of his?"

"Brooke," Peyton sighed and rolled her eyes. She turned toward Haley, "Just ignore her,"

"I don't mind," Haley shrugged. "And no, I never hooked up with Nathan either."

"Shame," Brooke muttered.

Haley let out a laugh, "Not really." She took another sip of her drink before she continued, "We never even knew about Nathan until he transferred to Tree Hill High in sophomore year. I mean, Lucas always knew that Dan Scott was his father, but it wasn't until Nathan's name was read in class that he realized he had a brother. They didn't get along very well during that first year, and even after they became friends I always felt," she hesitated, looking for the right word, "sort of intimidated by Nathan, I guess."

"Intimidated?" Peyton asked.

"He was part of the popular crowd in high school, everybody loved him" Haley explained, "I was a tutor and people hardly noticed me."

"So?" Brooke asked, one eyebrow raised, "Don't they say opposites attract? It would have made a great love story."

"Yeah, sure," Haley scoffed. "Popular jock falls in love with his brother's nerdy best friend and they love each other _always and forever_."

"I'm sure it has happened before," Brooke said with a grin.

"I'm sure it has," Haley smiled. "Either way, it wasn't until after we graduated high school that I finally felt comfortable around Nathan, but it's not like with Lucas. I guess we're friends, but nothing more than that."

"He seems like a good guy, though," Brooke said, while looking at Peyton, one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, I'm not saying he isn't," Haley turned toward Brooke and smiled, "but you can't be best friends with everybody, right?"

Peyton nodded, "Right."

* * *

"Thanks again for driving us home," Peyton said quietly. She was seated in the passenger's seat of Nathan's car, with Brooke in the backseat, sleeping.

Nathan had insisted on driving them home after the party, instead of having the call a cab, and wouldn't take no for answer. Peyton was glad that he offered, because Brooke was already half asleep by the time they got in the car and she would hate to think how she would have gotten her inside once the cab dropped them off.

"Don't worry about it," Nathan said with a smile, "It's not far off my route."

"I know," Peyton replied. She was staying at Brooke's tonight, who, as it turned out, lived close to Nathan. She leaned her head against the cool window and glanced over at Nathan. He had taken his batman mask off, but there was still black make up around his eyes and Peyton had to admit that it looked kind of good in a weird sort of way. Then she saw her own reflection in the window and let out a giggle.

"What's so funny?" Nathan asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"We're make up twins," Peyton laughed and pointed at her eyes, "both rocking the racoon look."

Nathan stole a quick glance at her and grinned. He held out his fist for her to bump, "That's how we roll, kid."

Peyton laughed and bumped her fist against his.

"Oh. My. God."

Peyton turned around to where the sound was coming from and found Brooke sitting upright and looking way too excited. "You alright there, B. Davis?"

"Oh my god," Brooke repeated slowly, "I just realised something and it is," she paused for full effect, "epic."

Peyton rolled her eyes at Nathan, hoping he would understand that it might not be as epic as Brooke suggested. Her best friend had a way of exaggerating.

"You dressed up like Alicia Silverstone," Brooke started, while she looked at Peyton in the rear-view mirror, "And Nathan over here totally looks like a young George Clooney, who played Batman in the same movie where Alicia Silverstone played Batgirl." Brooke clapped her hands, "This is perfect!"

"Oh god," Peyton shook her head, "So I guess now we're meant to be together or something?"

"Totally," Brooke nodded with a smirk and crossed her arms to make her point. "You can thank me at your wedding."

Peyton sighed, "Brooke-"

"We're almost there," Nathan interrupted with a grin as he turned onto Brooke's street. He pulled up in front of her apartment building and looked over his shoulder, "Here you go."

"Thank you very much," Brooke smiled as she opened her door and stepped outside. "It was great to meet you, Nathan."

"Same here," Nathan agreed. He looked at Peyton who had her door open as well, "So I'll see you around then?"

Peyton nodded and smiled, "That you will." She got out of the car and watched as he drove away.

"You could have at least kissed him," Brooke said over her shoulder while she opened her front door.

"Yeah, yeah," Peyton said and pushed her best friend inside, "we'll worry about that another time."

"You're hopeless, you know that?"

"And tired," Peyton added with a grin, "Let's go to bed, bestie."

* * *

"Are you sure you're not sitting in with us this afternoon?" Haley asked before taking a bite from her sandwich. She held up her finger to let Peyton know she wasn't finished talking yet, and when she had swallowed her bit she continued with a grin, "We're watching Clueless, actually."

Haley and Peyton had opted to eat lunch in Peyton's classroom rather than the cafeteria, not in the least because Haley had brought homemade sandwiches, claiming they could use a break from hamburgers and fries every now an then.

"Ha," Peyton snorted and set her sandwich down to take a sip of her orange juice. "I've seen that one so many times already I'd probably fall asleep after ten minutes."

"Not your favourite movie then?" Haley asked.

Peyton shook her head, "Not really. Brooke _loves_ it though, so she made me sit through it pretty much every week during junior year, which pretty much cured me for life."

"Huh," Haley replied, "So why did you dress up like Cher on Saturday?"

"Because Brooke wanted me to," Peyton stated simply. Ok, maybe Brooke had bribed her with the promise of endless supplies of Clothes over Bros' skinny jeans for the rest of the year, but those were minor details and not really worth sharing, Peyton reasoned.

"It must be great to have-"Haley started when she was interrupted by message over the intercom.

"All faculty staff at lunch, please report to the principal's office. I repeat; all faculty staff on lunch break, please report to the principal's office."

"I've never heard this message before," Haley mumbled to herself while she got up and ran towards the door.

Peyton followed her, heart beating in her chest. Whatever it was, something bad was going on. She followed closely behind Haley and they made it to Mr Henderson's office with both the social studies and chemistry teacher that shared Peyton's hallway on their heels. The rest of the teachers were already there and it was crowded in the office.

The principal leaned against his desk as he addressed them, "We have just gotten the news that coach Whitey has suffered a minor heart attack on his way to work this morning."

Haley gasped, and Peyton put her arm around her.

"Now, I don't know exactly what his condition is other than that he's stable for now," Mr Henderson continued, "but Mr Scott is on his way to see him. As you know this afternoon's basketball practice was already cancelled due to the water damage we had in the gym during spring break, but I would like you to send the students that are on the basketball team as well as the cheerleaders to my office when the kids come back from lunch so we can inform them personally of what happened. I trust you will inform the other kids as you see fit during your next class."

All teachers nodded in response.

"I expect Mr Scott to let us know of coach Whitey's condition as soon as possible," Mr Henderson looked around the room, "should this be after school ends, we will inform you as soon as we have news. Mrs Dunne and I have decided that we will send out an email to all kids should there be any news and we will include you in this news as well."

He looked at the clock that let him know lunch was almost over, "We all know coach Whitey is as tough as steel, and there is no doubt in my mind that he will get through this," another look around the room, "I expect you to express this sentiment to the kids as well." And with a nod of his head he dismissed them.

"Wow," Haley said as they walked back to Peyton's classroom.

"I know," Peyton agreed. She was shocked by the news, and was still trying to come up with a way to tell the kids about this. She watched as Haley gathered her things and gave her friend a hug before Haley returned to her own classroom.

A couple of minutes later the bell rang and Peyton watched as her seniors filled the classroom. She pulled Sarah aside to let her know Mr Henderson wanted to see her before she informed her class about the events of earlier that day.

* * *

"He's going to be alright, you know," Brooke said with a firm nod of her head.

They were walking to Tree Hill's main street, where Brooke wanted to look at a location for her store. She had asked Peyton to come along for moral support, but Peyton knew it was also meant as a distraction. Coach Whitey was still in the hospital and while his condition had remained stable overnight, he was scheduled for surgery later today.

"You don't even know him," Peyton countered.

"Maybe I don't," Brooke simply shrugged, "but everybody else in Tree Hill does, and so far I have yet to hear anyone say that he won't make it. Apparently the guy is somewhat of a local hero and local heroes don't get to die."

"I love your optimism," Peyton said as she hooked arms with Brooke, "thank you."

"You're welcome," Brooke said with a smile. She turned toward the building on their left and her eyes lit up, "What do you think?"

Peyton followed her gaze and couldn't help but smile, "It looks perfect, Brooke." The entire storefront was made up of large windows, with the entrance to the left; it would be perfect for displaying mannequins.

"Do you want to look inside?" Brooke asked. She rummaged through her purse, "The realtor gave me the key so we could have a look."

"Definitely," Peyton agreed and waited for Brooke to pull out the key and open the door. She stepped inside and was surprised by how much space there was. While the building wasn't very wide, it was very deep and there was a lot more to the room than you could see from the outside. Peyton turned toward Brooke, "This is perfect."

"I know, right?" Brooke squealed and jumped up and down excitedly. "That's why I signed the lease yesterday!"

"Shut up," Peyton replied.

"Nope," Brooke stretched out her arms and did a twirl, "Welcome to Clothes over Bros, the store."

Peyton ran up to her best friend and gave her a hug, "That's amazing, B. Davis, congratulations!"

Brooke kissed her cheek, "Thanks, babe! I can't wait to get started! I was thinking we'd put the cash register over here," she pointed to her right, "and then we could have the fitting rooms in the back, and oh, it's going to be just like I want it to be, Peyton."

* * *

It was nine o'clock Wednesday evening and Peyton was sat at her dining room table, which was covered in sketches of Brooke's new store and pictures of past Clothes over Bros collections. While she was by no means an interior designer, she couldn't bear saying no when Brooke asked for her help with choosing the colour scheme and look and feel for the store. And so here she was, wondering if she could convince Brooke to go with a colour named _Dead Salmon_ for the walls. It was actually a really nice greyish, sort of washed out beige colour with a reddish undertone, but Peyton guessed Brooke would say no because of the name alone.

She stared at all the paint cards in front of her and decided to take a break. Brooke had given her April 1 as a deadline, which was a week from now, so Peyton figured she still had time to come up with the right colours. She got up and stretched as she looked out her living room window, not surprised to see a lightning storm in the distance.

A feeling of unease came over her, not because of the thunderstorm because that was still miles away from Tree Hill, but because she'd been inside too long and felt the need to go outside and clear her head for a bit. For a moment she contemplated going for a run, but then let out a cackle because she was Peyton Sawyer and she sure as hell didn't run just for the fun of it. It was her conviction people should only run as a child or when they were being chased.

Instead she grabbed her raincoat, one of the few items of clothing she owned that wasn't black but instead was blue with white polka dots. It looked very much like the raincoat that she had had as a kid and Peyton like it because it made her remember her childhood. When she was little her parents and she would always go outside when it rained in New York, to take a walk through Central Park. Her parents would encourage her to jump in puddles, saying she wasn't made of sugar and that it was ok to get wet, sometimes even joining her.

From the back of her closet she retrieved her rain boots, red - like the ones she had when she was little, and put them on. She grabbed her car keys from the table in the hall and was outside and in her car in a matter of minutes. She somehow found herself going in the direction of the beach and parked her car where she had last time. She couldn't help but glance to her right and saw that the lights in Nathan's house were off, and she was somewhat disappointed that he wasn't there.

Peyton walked to the left, to the end of the beach before she made her way to the shoreline and jumped and kicked around in the shallow water, relieving some of the tension that had build up this past weeks; she was still unsure of what to do about Jack and wished she could get through to him, really talk to him to find out what was going on. She was worried about Brooke and her shop, hoping Victoria would stay out of it as much as possible. She also worried about coach Whitey and his long road to recovery. And she worried about Lucas, who was now head coach of the basketball team and who had an important game ahead of him this Friday.

She was soaking wet within minutes, but felt much better and started her way back to her car.

"Dude," she heard from behind her and she turned around recognizing the voice.

She shook her head when she saw Nathan jogging toward her, "Only you would be crazy enough to go out for a run in this weather, huh?"

"Says the girl who is, doing _what_ exactly?" Nathan countered with a grin.

Peyton shrugged, "I'm just playing in the rain."

"Good for you," Nathan said with a nod.

Peyton smiled back at him, feeling thankful that he didn't question her sanity.

"I love your outfit, by the way,"

Peyton narrowed her eyes at him, ready to defend her choice of rainwear, but he looked sincere and not at all to be mocking her and so she swallowed her snarky comeback and instead thanked him.

"So I know you're not going to melt or anything," Nathan said with a grin, "because it's just water and you're not made of sugar, right?"

Peyton felt her heart skip a beat and absentmindedly nodded in reply. It hadn't been the first time Nathan had seemed to be able to look inside her head and had said something out loud that she had been thinking only moments earlier. Did he really know her that well even though they only met a couple of times? It scared her and she didn't really know how to handle it.

"But would you like to come in before you go home?" Nathan asked, interrupting her thoughts, "maybe get a hot cocoa?" Nathan started jogging a little faster and got ahead of her, "I make a mean hot cocoa."

"I should go," Peyton replied, ignoring his questioning look. She turned around and started towards her car.

"Peyton,"

But Peyton ingnored him and picked up her pace. She was almost running, being chased by feelings she wasn't sure she could handle right now.

* * *

"Peyton," Brooke whined, "a basketball game on a Friday night, really?"

"Yes," Peyton replied with a sigh, "We're here to support Lucas, remember? Plus Chase had to work anyway, so it was this or staying at home watching Clueless for the hundredth time."

"Ok," Brooke stood in front of her friend and gave her a stern look, "I don't know who peed in your cornflakes this morning, but you need to drop the attitude, missy. I didn't come here to get bitched at."

"I'm sorry," Peyton bit her lip and looked at her best friend.

"It's alright," Brooke said and gave her hug, "But instead of biting my head off when I ask you something, next time just tell me what's bothering you, alright?"

Peyton nodded, "Thank you."

"That's what's best friends are for," Brooke let go of her and clapped her hands, "Alright, which seats do we have."

"Brooke," Peyton couldn't help but smile, "it's a high school basketball game; we're on the bleachers with everybody else." She led the way toward the gym and picked to seats in the top left corner.

Brooke clucked her tongue, "Your boy Lucas better get us some good seats next time, Peyton, I am not made to sit in a corner with these smelly high school kids."

"I'll be sure to let him know,"

"Yeah, you do that," Brooke replied. She turned toward her best friend, "Seriously, what is up with you, Peyton. And don't tell me it's nothing, I'm not stupid."

Peyton took a deep breath, "I ran into Nathan the other day,"

"And?" Brooke asked, her eyebrows knitted together, not understanding why that was a bad thing.

"And he kind of got under my skin, like he knew what I was thinking and," Peyton spoke quietly, not wanting the kids around them to hear, "that kind of freaked me out."

"Oh, Peyton," Brooke put her arm around her best friend and pulled her close. "It's ok to let people in sometimes."

"I know," Peyton nodded. She was happy that Brooke seemed to understand exactly what she meant and that she didn't have to explain exactly how and why she ran into Nathan that night. She knew Brooke would love her through her crazy jumping in the ocean episodes, but she would no doubt question Peyton's common sense at some point too.

"Do you?" Brooke countered. "You have this wall around you, Peyton, and I'm lucky to have gotten inside before you put it up, but you can't keep pushing people away. You need people in your life, ok? And not just these superficial friendships that you have with Haley and Lucas, where you eat lunch with them every day and go bowling together once in a while, but _real_ relationships. You need to let them in, babe, they're good people. Nathan is good people. They won't hurt you, I promise."

"How can you be sure though?" Peyton asked, confused.

"You can never be totally sure," Brooke admitted, "but that's why you have me – I'll always be there."

"You're the best," Peyton said, a little teary-eyed.

"I know," Brooke smiled, "it's why you love me."

* * *

"Those cheerleader outfits sure have changed since we were in high school, huh?"

It was the end of the third quarter and the cheerleaders, including Sarah, were performing one of their cheers on the field. Peyton bumped shoulders with Brooke, "Oh come on, like your skirt wasn't just as short as theirs."

"Ok, maybe it was," Brooke admitted while rolling her eyes, "but our tops were definitely longer."

"Definitely," Peyton agreed with a grin, feeling a bit better.

Her eyes darted across the gym to where Haley was seated. Haley had texted her when the game started, apologizing for not being able to keep two empty seats next to her, but Peyton had let her know that it was alright and that they could meet up for drinks after the game. She was glad Nathan had the evenining shift tonight and there would be no chance of running into him here. By talking to Brooke she realised that she probably owed him some sort of apology, if not an explanation for her disappearing act earlier this week, but she had to build up some courage for that first.

Peyton looked at the scoreboard and saw that the game was about to start again when a collective gasp of shock went through the gym. Peyton turned to Brooke who just shook her head, eyes wide in shock, "That poor girl."

"Brooke, what happened?" Peyton asked, chest tightening.

"They were right in the middle of a pyramid," Brooke explained, "and that girl from your class jumped off and landed wrong. It looks bad, Peyton."

"Shit," Peyton got up and rushed down the bleachers to the field, where Lucas was already kneeling beside Sarah, holding her leg. His assistant coach,who Peyton though she recognised as his friend Skills from the party, was on the phone requesting and ambulance. Peyton knelt down next to Sarah's head and stroked her hair out of her face, trying to calm down the crying girl, "Sssh, it's going to be ok."

Peyton looked up and saw the cheer team surrounding them, some of the girls crying while other stood completely still, as though in shock. Her eyes found Haley on her left, "Haley, I need you to get them out of here, ok? Give us some space."

Haley nodded and ushered the other cheerleaders toward the locker rooms. The assistant coach, no longer on the phone, walked over to the other team and Peyton could hear him asking to cancel the remainder of the game. The Tree Hill Ravens were up by thirty points anyway and the other team's coach knew it would be nearly impossible to turn the game around in the final quarter. Peyton watched as he gathered up his players and left the field.

She turned her attention back to Sarah, who was now very pale and quietly whimpering, "Sarah?" Peyton asked, and the girl looked at her, "The ambulance is on its way, ok?" She took the girl's hand and gave it a squeeze, "I'm not leaving you, you hear me?"

Sarah nodded and tightened her grip on Peyton's hand.

* * *

"Is she going to be ok?" Brooke asked when Peyton walked back into the waiting room. They were at the hospital where Sarah had been admitted to the E.R. about half an hour ago. Peyton had just gotten off the phone with the girl's parents who were on their way.

Peyton nodded slowly, "She's fractured her ankle, so she's going to need surgery, but they want to wait until her parents get here."

"Oh, that's somewhat good news, right?" Brooke sounded relieved and Peyton loved her for caring about a girl she never even met before. It was so typically Brooke.

"Yeah," Peyton agreed. It would be a long road of recovery for Sarah, but the doctors had assured Peyton that the damage wouldn't be permanent.

"Miss Sawyer?"

Peyton turned around and saw Scottie standing on the other side of the waiting room. She was wearing her glasses, but Peyton could see her eyes were red and puffy from crying and without thinking she walked over to the girl and gave her a hug, "She's going to be alright, Scottie."

"Really?" the girl asked, her voice muffled by Peyton's shirt.

"Realy," Peyton confirmed. She took a step back and put her hands on Scottie's arms, "She going to need surgery, but the doctor says it looks like a clean fracture, something they can easily fix, ok?"

Scottie nodded and sniffed.

"They're just waiting for Sarah's parents to arrive so they can sign off on some paperwork and start surgery, but I'm sure you can go see her in the meantime."

"Thank you," Scottie tried her best to smile but failed.

"Do you want me to wait for you and drive you home afterwards?"

Scottie shook her head, "I followed the ambulance from school, my car is parked right outside."

"Ok," Peyton led the girl to the nurses station where she explained that Scottie wanted to see her best friend. The head nurse nodded in understanding and showed Scottie where Sarah's room was.

Peyton watched Scottie disappear through the double doors before she let out a sigh of relief and turned back toward Brooke, "I'm glad Scottie's here, for Sarah's sake."

"Yeah," Brooke agreed, looking at her best friend in admiration.

"You ok, Brooke?"

"It's just, I've never seen you around your students before," Brooke said thoughtfully, "and it's like I'm seeing a whole new side of you. You care so much about these kids, Peyton, and it's the best thing I have ever seen."

"Are you sure you didn't fall and hit your head?" Peyton asked with a grin. A moment later she threw her arms around Brooke's shoulders and pulled her best friend close, "But seriously, thank you, Brooke. That really means a lot."

"Alright," Brooke hooked arms with Peyton, "Let's go home before this turns into a sobfest, huh?"

Peyton leaned into her best friend and nodded, "Only if we go get a drink somewhere first."

"Definitely," Brooke replied with a grin.

* * *

It was late Saturday night and Peyton was still working on the colour scheme for Brooke's store when there was a loud knock on her door. She wondered who it was but before she could even make it to the hall Brooke had already come inside, using her spare key, and walked into the living room, eyes red, hair messy, and hugging a bottle of wine.

"Brooke," Peyton walked over to her best friend and carefully took the bottle from her, "what happened?"

"He broke up with me," Brooke stated matter-of-factly. She shrugged, "Can you believe it? He actually broke up with me."

"Why? What happened?"

Brooke walked to Peyton's kitchen and grabbed to wine glasses from one of the cabinets, "He said that he felt like we were too different and that I wasn't," she held up her fingers to air-quote, "as invested in the relationship as he was."

"What?"

"Yeah," Brooke fumed, "He said he'd only seen me twice this past month and that I seemed more occupied with work than with him. And at first I wanted to argue with him, you know," Brooke said, new tears forming in her eyes, "but then I figured nothing I could say would make him change his mind and I just kind of gave up."

"Oh, Brooke,"Peyton threw her arm around Brooke and led her to the couch. She sat her best friend down and poured them both a glass of wine. When she sat down as well, she leaned back and held out her arms, "We are going to sit here, drink wine, and you are going to cry on my shoulder as long as you need to, ok?"


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN**_ _: Sorry for the long wait! I seem to say that every time I update, but please bear with me._

 _I hope you'll like this chapter, reviews are always appreciated :)_

* * *

 **APRIL**

It was another rainy night when she drove the now familiar road to the beach for the second time that week. She passed Brooke's house on the way there, but didn't stop, even though she reminded herself to check up on her best friend later.

Brooke had stayed with Peyton until early Sunday afternoon, promising her that the worst of her heartbreak was over and that she would call if she needed anything. They spent most of Saturday night and Sunday morning on the couch, with old reruns of Full House as the background music to Brooke talking her way through this breakup and trying to make sense of things.

It wasn't the worst breakup Peyton had ever gone through with Brooke, which had been in sophomore year of high school when Brooke found her then-boyfriend Johnny cheating on her with the captain of the mathletes team, Julie, who was, believe it or not, a freshmen at the time. The horror. It taken Brooke a full week to stop crying over her lost love and it was then that Peyton first tried to convince Brooke that she only deserved the best when it came to her boyfriends. She was glad that her best friend seemed to have realized that too along the way. Of course, a breakup was never fun, and it was for that reason that she had promised Brooke to sit with her as long as needed. And to never set foot in Trick ever again as long as Chase was still running the place. Obviously.

Peyton parked her car in front of Nathan's house and sat in the dark for a while, listening to the engine slowly ticking itself to sleep, trying to gather up the courage needed for what she was about to do. Taking a deep breath, she climbed out of the car and ran up the steps to the front door, her shoulders hunched up high and a hand over her head in attempt to shield her eyes from the pouring rain. She silently cursed the lack of shelter on his front porch while she waited for him to answer her knocking. A light came on in the hallway and seconds later the door swung open and instantly she was hit by the smell of food and it made her stomach rumble as if it wanted to remind her that she hadn't eaten anything since lunch.

She looked up at him and gave a small smile, "Hi."

"Hey," he replied and stepped aside, allowing her to pass, "Come on in." If he was surprised that she had showed up on his doorstep unannounced he didn't show it.

"Thanks," she passed him and carefully took her jacket off, trying not to get everything wet but failing because it was soaked all the way through. She looked for a place to put her garment.

"Just hang it on there," Nathan offered and pointed at a clothes rack on the left side. "There's floor heating so it should be dry in no time."

"Thanks," Peyton said again and followed him into the kitchen after she hung her jacket. She shivered unintentionally and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to warm up a bit. Without asking she sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and watched Nathan as he stirred in some pans. He looked like he knew what he was doing and it surprised her because he didn't seem like the kind of person who enjoyed cooking.

"You hungry?"

His voice interrupted her thoughts and she nodded. She sat up a little straighter and took a deep breath, figuring that she might as well get it out of the way, "I came to apologize." She bit her lip thinking of ways to tell him without sounding like a complete nut job but couldn't find any so instead she just started, "When we met at the beach last week I wasn't in a good place and when you seemed totally cool with me jumping in the ocean in my polka-dot raincoat and red boots, I don't know, I-" she hesitated, "I felt like you were coming a little too close, if that makes any sense?" She didn't wait for him to answer but instead kept going, "I'm sorry about just running off like that, it wasn't a very nice thing to do."

"You really don't have to apologize," Nathan said as he took out two plates from the cabinet and set them on the counter top.

"No, I really do," Peyton countered, "It's time to face my fears and start letting people in."

"Can I ask you something?" Nathan's voice was gentle and he seemed genuinely interested so Peyton nodded even though she was afraid of what his question might be.

"Why?"

"Why what?" she asked, not sure she understood him.

Nathan served her a plate filled with delicious smelling pasta and sat down opposite to her after pouring them both a glass of water, "Why are you so scared to let people in?"

And she told him as they ate; about being given up for adoption right after she was born and how it made her feel like she wasn't good enough for her birth mother. About her adoptive parents, Anna and Larry, who were the best parents anyone could ever have until that awful day nineteen years ago when her Mom died in a car accident while she was on her way to pick Peyton up from school. About how it was just her and her Dad for the next ten years, but really it was just her because her Dad was away for work a lot of the time. About how her Dad died exactly ten years after her Mom did and she was left all alone. And about how everyone she's ever gotten close to always leaves.

She didn't tell him because she wanted sympathy; she told him because she hoped it would help him understand her better. And so she was kind of relieved that instead of telling her how sorry he was, he pointed out the obvious; "Brooke's still here."

Peyton nodded, "Yeah." She leaned back in her seat as she politely declined a second portion. She couldn't help but smile when she thought of her best friend, "Brooke's always been there, ever since we were sat together in Kindergarten."

"She's family," Nathan offered.

"She is," Peyton agreed.

* * *

"And then?" Brooke asked, curiosity seeping through her voice.

"And then I helped him with the dishes and went home," Peyton added, finishing her story. She could tell her best friend was disappointed nothing else happened, so she added slyly, "He's taking me to a basketball game this weekend though."

While doing the dishes they had talked about Nathan's past and how important basketball was for him growing up. When Peyton admitted she struggled to understand the rules of the game he offered to tutor her by taking her to a game in Jacksonville he was going to. It was such a logical next step in their conversation that Peyton agreed to go with him without even giving it a second thought.

"How was this not the first thing you told me when you walked in here?" Brooke scolded, her voice several octaves higher. She shook her head, "Priorities, Peyton."

"My priority was to check up on you first," Peyton shot back, but with a smile. It was true, she came here tonight to make sure Brooke was alright after last week's break up with Chase.

"And I would have been a whole lot better if you'd just told me this right away," Brooke said dryly, her eyes twinkling.

"Hmm," Peyton agreed half-heartedly, "I'll try to remember that next time." She didn't say anything to Brooke, but she was happy to see her best friend was doing alright en completely engrossed in her latest project instead of being stuck in the breakup.

"You do that," Brooke agreed, turning her attention back to the colour samples Peyton had brought along to the store. She held up _Dead Salmon_ and raised her eyebrows, indecisive about whether or not she liked it. She turned back towards Peyton, her nose scrunched up, "You know, I would like this colour so much better if it wasn't named after a dead fish."

Peyton let out a laugh, "You could always go with _Smoked Trout_."

Brooke held up one of the other samples, which was a little darker and a more of a reddish tone than the one she'd been holding up earlier, "Yeah, you know what, let's not use any fish colours though. It's just weird."

"In that case," Peyton pulled another sketch out of her folder, "take a look at this." She handed Brooke the piece of paper and waited for her best friend's reaction expectantly.

"Oh wow," Brooke gasped, "this is perfect."

The sketch she was holding showed a simple, clean, but elegant store; two white walls on either side and a pop of colour on the back wall. Peyton had chosen a dark purple as the accent colour, one that she thought Brooke would like and that added instant class.

"We could put the cash register in front of that wall and the fitting rooms behind it," Brooke continued with a smile. She grabbed her already half-empty wineglass and handed Peyton hers, "Let's toast to finally picking the colour scheme for the store, bestie."

"Cheers," Peyton agreed as she clinked her glass carefully against Brooke's before taking a sip. She looked around the empty room, "Can you believe that in four weeks from now you'll have your own store?"

Brooke shook her head, "It's still weird to think about. Oh," she put her hand on Peyton's arm, "just to warn you; _New York_ will be here the last two weeks of April to "help"," she air-quoted the word, "with all the final details before the shops opens on May 2."

"Is she staying with you?" Peyton asked carefully, not looking forward to seeing Brooke's mother again.

"Yeah," Brooke shrugged, "but we'll be here most of the time anyway."

"Well, you know where to find me when you need a break from her, right?" Peyton said with a wink.

* * *

It was just before the bell rang on Monday morning when Peyton rushed up the steps towards the main entrance. She'd overslept this morning and was still cursing quietly for not hearing her alarm clock go off. And it wasn't like she'd had a busy weekend; she started on a new painting Saturday afternoon and continued with it on Sunday. She hadn't even left the house during those two days.

She pushed the door open and was about to walk straight to her classroom when she heard her name being called. Peyton turned around and couldn't help but smile when she saw Sarah and Scottie climbing the stairs together, well, Scottie climbing the stairs and Sarah on her back, holding her crutches triumphantly in the air, shouting, "I'm baaahaaack!"

"Thank you, Miss Sawyer," Scottie puffed as she gently put Sarah down.

"You are most welcome," Peyton replied with a smile. She turned towards Sarah after both girls had passed her to get inside, "How are you?"

"Good," Sarah said with a beaming smile, "There are six screws on either side of my ankle and I won't be able to cheerlead the rest of the year, but according to the doctors I was very lucky it was such a clean break and I should be able to take up cheerleading in college again."

"That's good news," Peyton agreed, knowing how much Sarah loved the sport.

"I'm glad to be back though," Sarah admitted, "It was super boring in the hospital and the doctors were all so old."

Peyton smiled when she saw Scottie roll her eyes. "Yeah, no, can't have that, can you?" She eyed the girl's crutches, "How long will you need those for?"

"Five more weeks," Sarah sighed. She blew her bangs out of her eyes with a loud huff, "I'm just happy I won't have to go to prom with them, can you imagine? Ugh, the horror."

Peyton couldn't help but notice how much Sarah resembled a younger Brooke in that moment. She looked at her watch and noted she had about a minute left to get to class, so she sent both girls on their way before she hurried off to her own classroom. She made it just in time before the final bell rang, ready to start her day with one of three freshmen classes she had on Mondays.

* * *

"Alright," Peyton clapped her hands, trying to get the class' attention. It was the last class of the week and the kids were always a little wild on Friday afternoon, ready for the weekend to start. She was too, if she was honest. Not only because the week had been pretty uneventful, but also because she was looking forward to spending more time with Nathan.

She waited until the last of the chatter had died down as she leaned against her desk. She looked around the room and smiled at Scottie and Sarah, noticing the two empty seats next to them. She looked around for Kevin and Jack, but noticed both boys were absent. She sighed and cursed quietly, making a mental note to address the boy's absence in the next staff meeting, wondering if it was just her class they were missing.

"Thank you," she said once the kids had quieted down, "I just wanted to give you all a quick update about prom, so everyone knows where we are at right now. As you may have heard Mr Henderson finally agreed on the Roaring Twenties theme we picked and the other senior class is already working on the budget to make sure we can get everything we want."

"I know we still have two months left, but remember we only have one class a week to do everything that needs to be done, so I expect your full commitment," she looked around the room and was met with excited nods, "What I'd like you to do this and next week's class is to make all the artwork we need for the posters so we can put them up around school on Monday the twentieth. The colours we picked are gold, black, and white so make sure to stick to that."

Confident that the seniors would ask her if they needed any help, she sat behind her desk and started grading the papers she'd asked her sophomore classes to write about their favourite artist.

Towards the end of the class she walked around the room, admiring the artwork her students had produced and happy to see that most of the work was already done and they would only have to fine-tune next week. She was glad Mr Henderson had agreed on the theme, if anything because it was an easy subject to incorporate in the artwork and decorations.

When the bell rang she gathered everything and put it safely away in a cabinet in the back of the room before she made her way to Haley's class. They were watching _Dangerous Minds_ this week and after _The Breakfast Club_ it was one of Peyton's favourite movies.

* * *

"Are you and Brooke going out for drinks tonight?" Haley asked once the last student cleared the room.

Peyton shook her head, "She's too busy with the store right now. Plus, we don't really know where to go now that Tric's out of the question."

"Hmm," Haley agreed. She turned off the lights and locked her classroom door before she continued, "There's not much else in Tree Hill to be honest. Hey, how's she doing anyway? With the breakup and everything?"

"Surprisingly well," Peyton admitted and followed Haley towards the main entrance, "I guess having the store to keep her minds off of things really helps."

"That's good," Haley replied as she waved goodnight to Mr Henderson before they walked through the doors.

"Hey Hales," Peyton asked when they entered the parking lot, "You have Jack Roberts and Kevin Nichols in your senior English class, right?"

Haley shook her head, "I think they're in McMillan's class, the one Lucas took over. Why?"

"Jack has missed quite a few classes since January and today Kevin was absent too," Peyton explained, "I wondered if it's just my class they're ditching or if their overall attendance has dropped."

"You could ask a the administration's office," Haley suggested, "They have all the attendance records at hand."

"Hmm, I'll do that on Monday." Peyton opened her car door and put her bag inside, "Hey, if we I ever find somewhere else to go for drinks I'll let you know, ok?"

"Thanks," Haley smiled and she continued towards her own car. "I'll see you on Monday."

Peyton gave her a quick wave before she got into her car and drove off, ready for the weekend to start.

* * *

When she got out of the shower late Saturday afternoon she thought she heard something in her living room, but dismissed the idea of someone being inside very quickly. Her apartment was on the third floor and it would require a lot of skill and determination to break into. So when she walked into her bedroom in nothing but a towel and found Brooke going through her closet she cursed quietly under her breath.

"Hi bestie," Brooke said without looking up.

"Hi," Peyton said through gritted teeth, but not really mad because ever since she gave Brooke her spare key she had waited for the day her best friend would show up unannounced. She was surprised it had taken so long, to be honest.

"So," Brooke said slowly, hands on her hips, looking at the pieces of clothing she had laid out on Peyton's bed, "there's a lot of black here."

Peyton sighed, not bothering to answer, instead she set about drying her hair.

"I have to applaud your dedication," Brooke added thoughtfully, "but if you want to get it on tonight I suggest ditching the rock-chick look." She wrinkled her nose, "And maybe ditch the sneakers, babe."

"We're going to a basketball game," Peyton groaned, "I'm _so_ not wearing heels."

Brooke tutted, "I didn't say anything about heels, did I?" She grabbed a bag from the floor and pulled out a box that she gave to Peyton, "Here,"

Peyton looked from the box to her best friend, not sure she wanted to open it, but her curiosity won and she gasped when she took the lid off, "Brooke, these are gorgeous. Thank you."

Inside was a pair of simple black biker boots that looked similar to the ones Peyton had worn in high school.

"I know," Brooke replied with a smile. She clapped her hands, "So, now that we've picked the shoes we can decide the rest of your outfit. Lucky for you I brought another bag!"

Peyton took the bag from Brooke, shaking her head, "This is too much, Brooke."

"Babe," Brooke said and put her hands back on her hips, "you are going out on a date for the first time in forever, and with a _gorgeous_ man I might add, so let me spoil you a little, okay? Plus I know how much you hate shopping and you know how much I love it, so there."

Peyton gave her a hug, "Thank you."

"You haven't even seen what's in there," Brooke countered with a smile.

"Yeah, but I trust you," Peyton stated simply.

"Go get changed then," Brooke said as she sat down on the bed, "You have twenty minutes until Nathan gets here and I still need to do your makeup."

When Peyton emerged from the bathroom five minutes later Brooke's face lit up, "You look absolutely gorgeous!"

"Thank you," Peyton beamed back. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at her reflection; Brooke had chosen dark blue skinny jeans with a simple black and white striped top and a fitted black blazer. It all went together perfectly with the boots.

"Alright," Brooke jumped up from the bed and grabbed her makeup bag, "Let's make you even more beautiful."

* * *

Nathan had come to pick her up right as Brooke finished putting on her makeup and they had left immediately, with Brooke assuring Peyton that she would see herself out right after. While they drove to Jacksonville they talked, mostly about him. He told her about his childhood, how basketball was always the most important thing in his life and how hard Dan pushed him to always be better at the game, be better than anyone else, and how much that had bothered him. He confessed that he was relieved when his mother filed for divorce and how he hadn't seen Dan since he and his mom moved out of the house. Peyton noticed that he didn't sound bitter when he told her all this and it was another thing that she liked about him.

They had dinner in a tiny mexican restaurant that Nathan had eaten at before and Peyton told him more about her life in New York and her friendship with Brooke. She could tell he was pleasantly surprised when she shamelessly ordered a second serving of tacos because she was still hungry and she confessed that Brooke got annoyed sometimes at how much she could eat without gaining weight. They went next door to get frozen yoghurt for dessert and she kept stealing bites out of his cup because she secretly liked his mix of Captain Crunch and mini M&Ms topped with butterscotch better than the gummybears she chose.

The game started seconds after they found their seats and Nathan did his best explaining the game to her while it was being played. The Jacksonville Dolphins lost 43 to 67 but she had a good time nonetheless.

"So," Peyton said slowly as she followed Nathan down the stairs once the game was finished, "Basically it's 'Always keep your eyes on the ball',"

"Yup," Nathan agreed with a nod of his head, "And?"

"And," Peyton hesitated, trying to recall what he had told her earlier tonight. Her face lit up when she remembered, "Point guards are the most important players on team,"

Nathan nodded once again, "And?"

"Fade-aways are weak," Peyton stated simply.

"Right," Nathan put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close for a second, a smile around his lips, "That's all you need to know."

His arm stayed around her shoulders as they made their way outside and Peyton admittedly liked having it there.

"Do you miss playing?" Peyton asked as they walked towards his car. She could feel him shrug.

"Some days yes, but mostly I'm good," he said. "I still play sometimes, mostly just one-on-one games with Lucas, never a real game. When I first was injured I was a stubborn little brat and kept playing even though the doctor told me not to. I paid the price for that the second time I busted my knee; it took me six weeks before I could even walk again and by then any chance of playing professionally vanished."

"Shit," Peyton shook her head, "That must have sucked."

"Yeah," Nathan agreed, "I was in a very bad place for almost a year. I was just starting to exercise again when a recruiter from the police came up to me in the gym and asked me if I had ever thought about becoming a cop. At first I told him to fuck off, but the more I thought about it, the more I started warming up to the idea. So that's what I did."

"And here you are," Peyton offered, "Explaining basketball to Art teachers who drive around town with broken tail lights. I don't know about you, but I would pick that over a professional basketball career any day."

Nathan let out a chuckle as he unlocked his car, "Me too, Miss Sawyer, me too."

Peyton shook her head as she got into the car, "Drop the 'Miss', please. It makes me feel old."

"Just Sawyer then?" Nathan suggested with a grin and started the car.

"Much better," Peyton agreed. She sat back in her seat and let Nathan find his way out of town onto Highway 17. Without asking she turned the volume of the radio up when a Led Zeppelin song came on, quietly singing along.

When the song ended and a new one started playing Peyton suddenly sat up and turned the volume all the way down, "No, no, no, no,"

"What?" Nathan looked at her curiously.

"They're playing Justin Bieber," Peyton fake-gagged and shook her head quickly.

"Not a fan then?" Nathan joked.

Peyton threw him a glare and turned the tuner to see if they could pick up any other radio stations but didn't find any.

"I have my phone linked to the car," Nathan suggested, "If you click 'Media' you can scroll through my music and see if there's anything on there you like."

"No Bieber?" Peyton asked with a grin.

"No Bieber," Nathan confirmed.

Peyton did as he told and was pleasantly surprised when she went through his most played songs, "You listen to the _Beastie Boys_?"

Nathan nodded, "Yup."

" _De La Soul, Ice-T, LL Cool J, N.W.A., Public Enemy, Run DMC_ , ," Peyton went on, "Wow."

"Surprised?" Nathan asked with a grin.

Peyton nodded slowly, "Surprised and a little bit in awe. I never pegged you for an old-school hip-hop fan. You've impressed me, Nathan Scott." She went to his most played song and smiled when she saw it was _No Sleep Til Brooklyn_ by the Beastie Boys. She turned the volume up high and when the song started playing they both sang along at the top of their lungs.

* * *

"Here we are" Nathan said as he parked in front of the entrance to her apartment building. He got out of the car before she could say anything and quickly walked over to her side where he held her door for her.

"Thank you," Peyton said as she got out. She stepped aside and leaned against the car as Nathan closed the door, "And thank you for tonight, I had a really good time."

Nathan nodded in agreement, "Me too."

Before she knew it he took a step towards her and gently placed his hand in her hair, pulling her close, his lip touching hers before she had a chance to catch up to what was happening. Butterflies started fluttering around in her stomach and without thinking she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She could feel his lips curl up in a smile and couldn't help doing the same, because it felt so good.

She hesitantly pulled away a while later and looked at him, not knowing what to say. Nathan pulled her close and she rested her head against his shoulder, taking a moment to gather her thoughts.

His lips were close to her ear when he spoke softly, "I like you, Sawyer."

She looked up at him and smiled, "I like you too."

* * *

"And?" Brooke asked, bouncing up and down like an impatient child.

"And then we kissed again," Peyton admitted with a smile, "And then he went home."

"Eeeek," Brooke clapped her hands together, "This is so exciting! So, when's the next date?"

"We're meeting up at the Raven's game next Friday," Peyton poured both of them a new glass of wine and sat back into the deck chair. They were at Brooke's house, where Brooke had invited Peyton to dinner that Sunday evening as a sort of last hoorah before Victoria would arrive in town the day after.

Peyton took a sip of her drink, "I really like him, Brooke."

"Good," Brooke replied. "I really like him too."

"Thank you," Peyton said with a nod, knowing that this meant that Brooke thought of him as a good guy for Peyton.

* * *

"Miss Sawyer?"

Peyton looked up from her desk and saw Scottie standing in front of her, "What can I do for you, Scottie?" Instead of going to the cafeteria for lunch Peyton had opted to stay at her desk this so she could grade some papers while grabbing a quick bite to eat. Plus, she could do with another round of Soup Thursday.

"Well, I'm part of the yearbook crew and every year we ask all the senior teachers to share something they wish they knew before they graduated high school," the girl beamed, "so here I am."

Peyton laughed, "You want advice from me?"

Scottie nodded, "Yeah, something you wish someone had told you before you graduated."

"Ok," Peyton said slowly as she leaned back in her chair, "Do you have to get something now?"

"Nah," Scottie shook her head and handed Peyton a piece of paper with room for the quote and instructions, "I need this back by May 20, before we start our exams."

"Will do," Peyton said with a smile as she folded the paper in half and put it in her desk. She would need a little time to come up with something.

"Thanks, miss Sawyer," Scottie said as she made her way to the hall.

"Hey Scottie," Peyton said slowly, "Can I ask you something?"

The girl turned around and nodded, a curious look passing over her face.

"How well do you know Jack and Kevin?" Peyton asked.

"Kevin and I have been in the same class since kindergarten," Scottie stated simply, "but we don't hang out much outside of school or anything."

"And Jack?"

"Jack started at Tree Hill High two years ago," Scottie hesitated for a moment but then continued, "He was a bit of a loner the first couple of months, no one really liked him, but then he and Kevin were paired together for a project in Biology or something and they have been best friends ever since." She shrugged, "I don't know much else about him, to be honest."

"But you get along with both of them?"

"I guess," Scottie shrugged, "I mean, other than the prom project in your class I don't have much to do with them, but they're never mean or anything."

"Good," Peyton gave the girl a nod, "Thank you, Scottie."

"Are they in trouble?" Scottie asked quietly.

Peyton shook her head, "Not really, but I do wonder why they keep missing so many of my classes."

"Oh, it's not just your classes they're missing, miss Sawyer," the girl answered, "they have been skipping PE and social studies ever since January."

"Do you have any idea why?" Peyton sat up behind her desk, curious to find out more.

Scottie shrugged again, "Morris Watson and Mark Dupree are in those classes, I think they got into some sort of fight with them or something, I don't know."

The bell to signal the end of lunch rang and Peyton smiled at the girl in front of her, "Thank you, Scottie,"

Scottie smiled and gave a quick wave before she left Peyton's classroom.

* * *

"Lucas!" Peyton picked up her pace and caught up with him down the hall where he was headed towards the exit.

"Miss Sawyer," Lucas replied with a wink, which reminded her that she was supposed to address him formally inside of school.

"Mr Scott," she countered with a grin. She pulled him aside and spoke softly, "Hey, remember that time we found Jack Roberts being bullied in the bathroom after Christmas break?"

Lucas nodded.

"What are the names of the four guys that bullied him?"

"Jason White, Mark Dupree, Lewis Banks, and," Lucas hesitated for a second, "Morris something-"

"Morris Watson?" Peyton offered.

Lucas nodded, "Yes, that's him. Why do you want to know, I thought that was all sorted?"

"I thought it was but I'm not sure," Peyton replied. "Do any of those four share your class with Kevin Nichols or Jack?"

Lucas shook his head, "No, Haley has those four in her class on Friday morning. Why?"

"There's something going on between those kids," Peyton said and sighed, "I just need to figure out what it is."

"I'm sure it's nothing," Lucas assured her, "There's always something going on between certain kids here and then graduation comes around and suddenly they're all best friends."

"Hmm," Peyton responded half-heartedly, not really believing him.

"Well, let me know if you find out anything, ok? I have to get going," Lucas said as he walked towards the exit, "See you at the game tonight, right?"

Peyton waved at him, "Yes. Good luck tonight!"

* * *

"So happy we've upgraded to the second to last row of bleachers tonight," Brooke said while she sat down. She raised her eyebrows at Peyton and stuck out her tongue, letting her best friend know she was only joking.

"Next time I'll get you the VIP lounge," Peyton said with a wink, "Champagne and everything."

"As you should," Brooke replied. She looked around the gym, "There are a lot of people here for something that's not a championship game."

"I know," Peyton agreed, "but it's the last game of the season so I guess everyone decided to come out tonight." She followed Brooke's gaze around the gym and smiled when she saw Haley and Nathan coming towards them.

"Hi," Haley said with a bright smile, "So good to see you again, Brooke."

"Same here," Brooke replied. She patted on the seat next to her, "Sit your cute ass here, Haley," she looked at Peyton and gave her wink, "we have a lot to discuss."

Peyton shook her head at Brooke, because with Haley sitting next to Brooke it left Nathan no other choice than to sit next to Peyton. She couldn't help but smile at her best friend's efforts though and winked back at her.

Nathan greeted Brooke as he walked past her and sat down next to Peyton, his shoulder gently bumping into hers, "Hey,"

"Hey yourself," Peyton said with a smile, "How was work?"

"Same old, same old," Nathan confessed, "There's not much exciting going on in Tree Hill."

Peyton was about to ask if he preferred to have more action but the Tree Hill cheerleaders started their intro routine and the cheers from the crowd were deafening, making it impossible to carry on any normal conversation.

* * *

"Congratulations!" Brooke clapped her hands as Lucas joined the group outside of the gym where they had been waiting for him after the game. She gave him a hug, "Great job, coach Scott."

Peyton followed Brooke's example, "Congratulations on the win, Lucas!"

"Congrats, bro," Nathan agreed with a fistbump. "So what do you want to do? Go out for drinks somewhere?"

"Definitely," Lucas answered with a grin, "It's time to celebrate."

"The only problem is," Haley said thoughtfully while she looked at Brooke, "that we really only have Tric to go to. Unless you want to end up at McArthurs with all the old people."

"I'm fine with Tric," Brooke said with a shrug, "I don't think Chase is working tonight anyway."

"You sure?" Haley asked.

"Yep," Brooke nodded, "Plus, they have a really good Strawberry Daiquiri that I've been craving ever since Chase and I broke up so let's go!"

They pulled into Tric's parking lot a couple of minutes later, all piled into Haley's car who offered to drive them there. They had quickly agreed that they would leave their cars at Tree Hill High and pick those up sometime tomorrow.

Nathan put his arm around Peyton's shoulders as they made their way up the stairs to the entrance and she was happy that he did. She wasn't sure what their status was at the moment, but she liked that he felt comfortable enough around his brother and their friends to do something like that.

Lucas offered to get the first round of drinks while the rest of them set out to find a free table. They sat down somewhere in the far corner of the club, not far from where Peyton and Brooke used to sit when they still came here for drinks. Peyton looked at Brooke to see how her best friend was doing, but Brooke threw her a reassuring smile and mouthed, "I'm good," to her. Peyton smiled back at her and gave her a wink.

Lucas joined them minutes later and together they made a toast to his victory.

Peyton leaned into Nathan, his arm still around her shoulders, while she listened to Lucas telling Brooke the story of how he first got into basketball. She chatted with Haley about the upcoming prom, which got Brooke's attention.

"Are you chaperoning as well?" Brooke asked Haley.

Haley nodded, "Every year."

"Do you already have a dress?" Brooke sat up a little straighter and Peyton couldn't help but smile. She knew what Brooke was getting at.

"Nope," Haley shook her head, "I'm going to Charlotte next month so I'll probably shop there."

"No you won't," Brooke stated simply. She beamed, "I'm making you a custom dress."

"Oh," Haley said, eyes wide in amazement, "Really?"

"Totally," Brooke agreed. She pointed at Haley and Peyton, "You two are going to be the best looking girls at that prom."

"Thank you, Brooke," Haley blew her a kiss.

"You can buy me another one of these delicious daiquiris to thank me," Brooke suggested with a grin while she emptied her glass.

* * *

They left Tric sometime early Saturday morning. Brooke, Nathan and Peyton shared a cab to the east side of town, while Lucas and Haley decided to walk home together.

The cab had just turned onto Oleander Drive when Peyton heard Brooke quietly mumble beside her. She looked over at her best friend and wasn't surprised to find her slumped against the window, her eyes half closed. Brooke had had quite a lot of daiquiris tonight.

From the backseat Peyton could watch Nathan without him noticing and she smiled when she saw him drumming along to the _Aerosmith_ song that was playing on the radio. One day, she decided, she would let him hear her favorite songs, hoping he would like them as much as she liked his hip-hop.

Before she knew it the cab pulled up in front of Brooke's house. Peyton gently shook Brooke, trying to wake her up but only got a distant groan as a reply.

Nathan turned around in his seat with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "Need any help?"

"Yeah," Peyton nodded, "If you could help me get her inside that would be awesome." She handed the cabdriver a twenty dollar bill and told him to keep the change as she got out of the cab and walked over to the other side. Nathan was already there, carrying Brooke in his arms.

"Come on, B. Davis," Peyton patted Brooke's arm, not completely steady on her feet either, "Let's get you to bed."

Nathan followed her inside after she unlocked the front door and gently laid Brooke down on the couch in the living room. Peyton figured Brooke might as well sleep here, not wanting to burden Nathan with having to carry her upstairs. She grabbed a blanket from under the coffee table and draped it over Brooke, "Night, bestie."

She followed Nathan outside to where the cab was waiting for him, "Thank you."

"No worries," Nathan replied. He kissed her quickly before he got into the cab, "Good night, Sawyer."

"Night," Peyton said with a smile as she watched the cab drive off.

* * *

"Jack," Peyton said sternly, "a word, please."

It was Friday afternoon and her class had just ended and to her surprise both Jack and Kevin had been present. She wanted to talk to Jack first though, as he had missed most of her classes; she decided to talk to Kevin next week.

The boy leaned against one of the desks and refused to look at her, instead focusing on his shoes.

"How are you?" Peyton asked, hoping he wouldn't feel attacked by her.

He shrugged, still not looking up.

Peyton let out a sigh, "I might as well say it; I'm worried about you."

The boy looked up in surprise, "Why?"

Peyton shrugged, "You've missed some classes, not just mine, but PE and social studies as well and I just hope everything's alright with you."

"I'm fine," Jack answered shortly, looking down again.

"Everything alright at home as well?" Peyton pushed.

Jack nodded, "Sure."

Trying hard not to let her frustration show Peyton counted to ten before she continued, "Do you have a reason for missing so many classes?"

Jack shrugged, "Not really." He looked at her, his eyes cold, "Can I go now?"

"Only if you promise me you won't skip any more classes."

"Sure," the boy agreed. He walked out before she even had a chance to dismiss him and Peyton kicked her desk in frustration. She knew he made an empty promise just now and wondered how she could get through to him.

* * *

Early that Saturday morning her phone chimed, signalling her that she had a new text message. Peyton grabbed her phone from the nightstand and smiled when she saw it was from Nathan;

 _Just finished my nightshift, want to go grab breakfast at Daisy's?_

 _Definitely,_ Peyton texted back, _Meet you there in fifteen._ She quickly gathered some clothes before she jumped in the shower. Ten minutes later she was dressed and out the door, on her way to the only breakfast bar in Tree Hill. Nathan was already waiting for her when she walked inside a couple of minutes later.

He stood up and gave her a kiss, "Morning."

"Hi," Peyton smiled and sat down opposite to him. He looked tired, but that didn't surprise her; he had been at work since eleven last night and it was now eight in the morning. Without looking at the menu Peyton ordered scrambled eggs on toast and a large coffee. Nathan ordered the hash browns with peppers and sausages on the side. He told her about his shift and his colleagues while they waited on their food and she could tell he really loved what he did.

When their breakfast came he told her about an incident last night that involved two little kids being left at home alone and she could tell he was upset about it. She tried to take his mind off things by telling him about her different classes but she knew her attempts were futile.

"Sorry, Sawyer," Nathan spoke softly after he paid the bill, "I think it's best if I go home and try to get some sleep." He got up and held out his hand to her, which she took. He pulled her up and out of their booth and together they walked outside.

Peyton gently squeezed his hand, "You gonna be ok?"

Nathan let go of her hand and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head, "I will be." He let go and looked at her, "Thank you for listening to me."

"Anytime," Peyton replied. She hesitated for a moment but then threw her arms around his neck and brushed her lips against his.

He pulled her close and deepened their kiss, his hand on her lower back. When he took a step back he grinned at her, "Just what I needed."

"Good," Peyton said with a smile, "Now go get some sleep."

"I will," Nathan said as he gave her a quick kiss before he made his way to his car, "See you soon, Sawyer."

Peyton watched as he drove off, arms crossed in front of her, part of her wanting to follow him. She shook her head and got into her car. _Better to take things slow_ , she told herself, but her heart fluttered and told her otherwise.


	5. Chapter 5

_**AN:**_ _Thank you to everyone who left a review on the last chapter and for still sticking with this story. A big thank you to Charlotte for helping me out with the first scene!_

* * *

 **MAY, part 1**

"Brooke, breathe," Peyton said sternly while grabbing her best friend's arms with both hands. She looked at Brooke and took a deep breath, waiting for the brunette to follow her lead.

"I can't," Brooke wheezed, shaking her head vigorously.

"You can," Peyton assured her. "Just breathe in," she took a big gulp of air and watched as Brooke did the same, "and out." She repeated the motion until Brooke was calm enough that she could let go of her and took a step back, "Now tell me what's going on and we'll figure out a way to fix it."

Peyton decided to check in on Brooke after dinner, knowing her best friend would probably be stressed out about her store opening party tomorrow. She figured Brooke could probably use some help with the last details, but Peyton didn't expect to find Brooke having what seemed to be a mild panic attack when she arrived.

Brooke released her breath, "Thereisabirdinside"

"What?" Peyton's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"There is a bird inside," Brooke repeated, more slowly this time, obviously trying not to freak out again.

Peyton suppressed a giggle and tried to keep her face straight, "Hmm."

"Yeah, hmm," Brooke shot back. She gestured towards the top of a large display where the bird was hiding, "There's a freakin' bird inside, Peyton, and I mean, fine, whatever, it's just a little one and it won't do us much harm but I have a whole room full of new dresses, and skirts, and tops that do not need to be shat on right now!"

"Ok," Peyton put her hands on Brooke's arms again, "ok, breathe. We'll get that bastard out, ok? Don't worry."

"How?"

"What?"

" _How_ are we going to get it out, Peyton?" Brooke asked, one eyebrow raised, "You are as scared of birds as I am."

"I wouldn't say scared, per say," Peyton shrugged, "Ever since that pigeon attacked me in Central Park I'm just cautious." She closed her eyes for a second as though she relived that day and shuddered, "Yeah, definitely cautious."

"Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer," Brooke said through gritted teeth, "Are we really taking a trip down memory lane right now or are we going to find a way to get that bird OUT OF MY FREAKING STORE?"

Peyton couldn't help but laugh when Brooke shouted those last words at the general direction of where the bird was hiding. "Let me call, Nathan," Peyton suggested, "He'll know what to do."

She got her phone and searched her contact list for his name. She could her Brooke mutter something about how ridiculous it was that they had to get the cops involved, but Peyton decided to ignore her best friend while she waited for Nathan to pick up.

"Hey,"

"Hey," Peyton smiled when she heard his voice, "I know it's kind of late and you have an early shift tomorrow but I need-"

"Is this real life, Sawyer? Are you booty calling me right now?"

Peyton let out a cackle, "You have a dirty mind, Nathan Scott, and to be honest, I wish I was but Brooke needs your help with something."

"Ooh," Nathan drew out, "Threesome. Totally in. I'm on my way."

"We're at the store," was all Peyton managed to say before Nathan hung up on her. She smiled as she turned to Brooke, "He's on his way."

"Great," Brooke huffed, arms folded across her chest in a defensive manner.

* * *

"Look at all those people," Nathan commented as he pulled into the parking lot across the street from Brooke's store.

Peyton followed Nathan's gaze and smiled. There _were_ a lot of people lined up outside, waiting to be admitted to the party. It was a weird mixture too; there were fashion designers, journalists, local store owners, and models, but also Brooke's neighbours, an elderly couple that loved Brooke as if she was their own daughter. Of course Haley and Lucas, and, much to Peyton's disappointment, Victoria, were there as well. She threw the woman a look even though Victoria couldn't see her and knew she would have to play nice tonight.

She smiled at Nathan when he opened the door for her and took his hand as she stepped outside. He looked handsome in a black suit, white shirt and dark navy tie that matched the colour of Peyton's body hugging dress. All thanks to Brooke of course.

"Have I told you already how gorgeous you look tonight?" Nathan said with a grin as he gently squeezed Peyton's hand.

She could feel his eyes on her and replied with a wink, "There's no such thing as giving a girl _too_ many compliments, Scott, so just keep 'em coming."

Nathan let go of her hand and threw his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and kissing her temple as they crossed the street, "You look gorgeous, Sawyer."

Before Peyton could reply they were greeted by Haley and Lucas, who both looked stunning; Haley was wearing the dress Brooke had given her for a birthday; a coral red, empire style dress cut just above the knee. Lucas wore a dark gray suit, which Peyton thought looked like it was made for him. Knowing it was Brooke who gave it to Lucas, it probably was.

"Hi!" Haley beamed, "How great is this?" She gestured at the crowd around them and smiled, "I can't believe there are so many people here! And they're all talking about Brooke and how amazing her designs are!"

Peyton smiled and nodded, knowing how much of a dedicated fanbase Brooke had gathered over the years. She'd always been a fashion favourite in the magazines and Peyton hoped that the store would make her designs even more accessible to her fans.

She was about to tell Haley the story of the bird, because it still made her laugh when she thought about it, when a pop song started playing over the speakers that were placed on either side of the door. Peyton recognized it as a song from the _Devil Wears Prada_ soundtrack and smiled at Brooke's sense humor, wondering if anyone else would get it. Their attention turned to the entrance of the store and right when the music stopped the door opened and Brooke stepped outside.

Peyton clapped along with everyone else and felt an immense sense of pride for her best friend who gave a small speech on how excited she was to start this new chapter in her life with a store here in Tree Hill before she invited everyone to come inside.

* * *

"Feet. Pain," Brooke muttered as she sat down next to Peyton and kicked her shoes off. She let out a sigh, "Aaah, so much better."

"How are you, babe?" Peyton asked as she handed Brooke her bottle of water. It was the end of the night and the store was empty except for the two girls and Nathan and Lucas. Victoria left about an hour ago, right after the last fashion journalist did, claiming her work here was done. Peyton didn't really mind. Haley left shortly after Victoria did - she had plans early tomorrow morning and didn't want to risk being late.

Brooke leaned back in the giant sofa that was located in the middle of the store and let out another sigh, closing her eyes, "Very, _very_ happy,"

"You don't say," Peyton joked, looking at Brooke half-lying on the sofa.

"Yeah, you can't actually tell, but there's a party going on inside of me," Brooke deadpanned with a grin, her eyes still closed.

Peyton chuckled, "Good."

"Yeah," Brooke agreed, "And you?"

"Very, _very_ happy too," Peyton replied. She took Brooke's hand and squeezed it, "You did amazing tonight, Brooke. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," Brooke said, "that means a lot." She sat up a little straighter and nodded towards the bar where Nathan was talking to Lucas, "Now, why don't you take that gorgeous man of yours and get out of here."

"Hmm," Peyton followed Brooke's gaze and felt the now familiar fluttering of butterflies in her stomach as her eyes fell on Nathan. A smile formed around her lips, "I might just do that."

Brooke laughed and pushed her off the sofa, "Get it, girl."

Peyton walked towards Nathan and without saying anything grabbed his hand and guided him towards the door, but not before she mouthed a quick "Thank you," to Brooke.

* * *

"Brookie!" Peyton shouted as she opened Brooke's front door, using her spare key. She carefully balanced two cups of coffee in one hand as she pushed the door shut with her right foot while rummaging through her bag for Brooke's present.

She made her way up the stairs to Brooke's bedroom and sang happy birthday at the top of her lungs once she made it to the second floor, totally off-key too. She was met with a loud groan when she opened Brooke's bedroom door, "Happy birthday, best friend!"

"Ugh," Brooke turned around and hid under the covers, "go away."

"Nope," Peyton put the coffee cups down on the nightstand and jumped on top of Brooke, "It's your birthday, B. Davis! Wake up!"

A quiet "I hate you," came from underneath the blankets which Peyton ignored. Instead she pulled the covers off and said in a sing-song voice, "I have a present for you…"

Brooke threw her a glare, "What even is the time?"

"Seven-thirty," Peyton replied with a grin.

"Jesus, Peyton," Brooke groaned, "That's basically still the middle of the night. Can't you come back later?"

"Nope," Peyton rolled off of Brooke and laid down next to her, "Because I have to be at work in hour and so do you, B. Davis. Or did you forget that as of today you have a store to run?"

"We don't open until twelve," Brooke replied as she smacked Peyton's arm.

"Whatever," Peyton shot back, but with a smile, "do you want your present or not?"

"Fine," Brooke said and held out her hands, "Gimme."

"What's the magic word?" Peyton teased as she held up the carefully wrapped package.

"It's my birthday," Brooke sighed, "I'm _so_ not saying please."

"You are impossible, you know that?" Peyton said as she handed Brooke her present, "But I love you anyway."

"And I love you too," Brooke said as she carefully opened the package, "Oh, this is gorgeous, Peyton, thank you."

Inside was a sketch Peyton made of an old photograph of Brooke and Peyton together in Kindergarten. Peyton had the original photograph at home and Brooke had been begging her for a copy ever since they moved to Tree Hill and she lost hers. The picture showed the two best friend sitting next to each other, making silly faces at whoever was behind the camera. They'd only known each other a couple of months by then, but were already inseparable.

* * *

It was early Saturday evening when there was a knock on her door. Peyton quickly dried her hands on the old towel that was lying beside her, wiping off most of the paint that was smeared on her hands. She was a messy painter and always ended up with equally as much paint on her canvas as on her hands, face, clothes and in her hair. As she walked to the front door she gathered her hair in a high ponytail and quickly checked herself in the mirror that hung in the hall.

She smiled when she opened the door and saw Nathan standing there, "Hi,"

Smiling back at her he held up a sixpack of beer, "I come bearing gifts."

Peyton hesitated for a moment, concerned about the somewhat messy state of her apartment, what with all her LPs lying around in the living room and various unfinished painting stack against the walls, but then she figured that he might as well get used to it and stepped aside, "Then by all means, do come in."

"I also ordered some Chinese food," Nathan casually informed her, "Should be here any minute."

As if on cue her stomach growled and Peyton laughed, "Perfect timing." She took the beer Nathan offered her and opened it, "Cheers,"

"Cheers, Sawyer," Nathan replied before taking a sip. He sat down on her couch and appeared to feel right at home, as if this wasn't the first time he was here. He leaned back, "So what were you working on?"

"Can't show you yet," Peyton said with a grin, "I only just started with it, so it's still a bit of a mess." She sat down next to Nathan and leaned into him, folding her legs under her, "You'll get to see it once it's done, promise."

"Fine," Nathan kissed her temple, "So, how was work this week?"

"Ok, I guess," Peyton shrugged, "Finals are starting in three weeks so all the seniors are trying to get their grades up. Well, most of them, anyway. Some just keep skipping classes," Peyton sighed, "it's frustrating."

"Hmm," Nathan agreed, "I was the same in high school, though. Skipped most of my senior year, until Whitey threatened to take me off the team and give me a good kick in the ass," he chuckled, "that sure as hell cured me for life." He took another sip of his beer, "Maybe you should get Whitey to talk to them."

"Maybe I should," Peyton agreed with a smile, "He can be pretty scary, huh?"

The food arrived a couple of minutes later and as they ate Peyton told Nathan about Jack and Kevin and everything that had happened since January. He advised her to talk to the four kids who harassed Jack and even offered to talk to them for her if she wanted. She declined however and said she would try to fix this on her own first.

* * *

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Peyton spoke quietly, her hand tracing circles on Nathan's stomach as her head rested on his chest. They were lying in her bed, both awake way too early for a Sunday morning but not quite ready for the day to start yet. Nathan had stayed the night and Peyton realised she enjoyed having him still around in the morning.

"Sure," Nathan said as he twirled a piece of her hair around his finger.

"So this is kind of awkward," Peyton started, "but Haley let me know that we get to bring a date to Prom and so I was wondering," she looked at Nathan who was watching her with an amused smile, "Nathan Scott, will you go to Prom with me?"

"Only if you'll go steady with me," Nathan replied without missing a beat.

"What?"

"Will you be my girlfriend, Peyton Sawyer?" Nathan asked, his eyes dark blue and earnest.

Peyton pushed herself up off him and felt an overwhelming sense of comfort and a feeling of belonging as her lips found his and she whispered, "Yes."

* * *

"Hi Hales," Peyton said as she lingered in Haley's classroom door Monday afternoon. She was on her way home, but wanted to drop by Haley first.

'Hey Peyton," Haley replied with a smile, "What can I do for you?"

"I need a favour," Peyton started, "You have Jason White, Morris Watson, Lewis Banks and Mark Dupree in your English class on Thursday right?"

Haley nodded slowly.

"Could you ask them to come see me at the beginning of your class?" Peyton asked, "I have a free period because of that field trip for Biology that the freshmen are on and I want to talk to those guys about the Jack Roberts situation."

"Why, I thought that was all settled?"

"Jack's been absent all of last week," Peyton explained, "and I can't get a hold of his parents. I talked to him the week before that and he said everything was fine, but obviously something happened."

"And you think they have something to do with that?" Haley asked.

"I don't know, but I want to hear it from them," Peyton shrugged.

"Are you sure about that? Wouldn't you rather have Mr Henderson talk to them?" Haley suggested.

Peyton shook her head, "There's not enough for me to go to the Principal just yet, I mean, technically as far as we know, they haven't done anything to Jack since January, but I don't know," she hesitated for a moment, "I just want to let them know that I'm keeping an eye on them and that they need to behave."

"Ok," Haley said slowly, "I'll tell them to come see you. We're watching a movie anyway, so they can always watch their assigned scenes later."

"Great," Peyton smiled, "Thanks, Haley."

"Anytime," Haley smiled back at her.

"See you tomorrow," Peyton said before she turned around. She was surprised when she saw Kevin standing across the hall from Haley's classroom and for a moment she contemplated talking to him about the situation with Jack, but decided she would talk to the four other boys first hoping that that would solve the problem. She gave him a quick nod before she continued to the main hall, towards the parking lot.

* * *

"Hi bestie," Peyton said as she picked up the phone. She didn't even have to look at the display to know it was Brooke who was calling her - she did so every Monday night. Plus, Brooke was the only one who even had her home phone number.

"Hi bestie," Brooke countered, "How are you?"

"You know, pretty good actually," Peyton said with a smile, thinking back to the weekend she had spent with Nathan.

"Does this have anything to do with that handsome police officer of yours?" Brooke asked slyly.

"Something like that," Peyton said slowly, stringing Brooke along just a little longer.

"Oh, come on, P." Brooke urged, her voice several octaves higher, "Tell me already!"

Peyton couldn't help but smile, "He asked me to go steady with him yesterday."

"OH MY GOD,"

Peyton held the phone a little further from her ear and laughed, "Calm down, Brooke."

"Oh my god," Brooke said again, a little less loud this time, "This is so exciting. I mean, I don't think anyone has asked anyone to go steady ever since the late nineties and I'm getting some serious flashbacks to neon-colored tights, crop tops, and like, the Spice Girls, which I have to admit aren't completely unpleasant-"

"Brooke," Peyton interrupted with a smile.

"I'm so freaking happy for you, Peyton," Brooke continued without missing a beat, "The way he looked at you at the party? He has fallen for you so hard that I doubt he'll ever so much as look as another woman again."

"You are the best, Brooke," Peyton said as a thank you for her best friend's support.

"I know," Brooke answered simply. "Ok, apparently I have Victoria waiting for me on the other line because she just texted me to pick up, so let's go out for drinks on Friday night and then you can give me the full play-by-play, ok?"

"Deal," Peyton replied, "You ok too?"

"Definitely," Brooke confirmed, "Just super busy. I'll see you on Friday though!"

"Definitely," Peyton said with a smile, "Bye, babe. Love you."

"Love you too,"

* * *

"Miss Sawyer?"

Peyton looked up and saw Rose standing in her doorway after sixth period was over, "Hi Rose, what can I do for you?"

"I eh," the girl cleared her throat and walked towards Peyton, "Miss Davis asked me if I wanted to design some more patterns for her Fall collection,"

"That's amazing, Rose," Peyton said with a smile, proud of both her best friend and the girl standing in front of her.

"Thank you," Rose blushed and fumbled with the folder she was holding, "I was just wondering if maybe I could use the artroom to work in? I'd like to do something with paint instead of pencil this time and my mom is a bit picky about making a mess at home."

"Of course you can," Peyton replied, happy to see that Rose wasn't afraid to ask her for help. The transformation Rose had gone through after New York Fashion Week was amazing; she no longer was a timid girl, but instead spoke up more in class and was more confident in her work. "Listen, why don't you come by my class tomorrow after sixth period?" Peyton suggested, "I'll be sitting in with Miss James, but if you want you can use the art room to work on your project for those two hours."

"Really?" Rose's eyes grew wide in excitement.

"Really," Peyton confirmed with a smile. "See you tomorrow!"

"Thank you so much, Miss Sawyer," Rose said as she turned around and walked to her next class.

It was at that moment that Jason, Lewis, Morris, and Mark entered her classroom.

"Ah," Peyton said as she looked at the four teenagers standing in front of her, "Glad you could make it. Just sit down somewhere please." She leaned against her desk and crossed her arms in front of her chest, not surprised that the boys picked the last two rows to sit down in.

"Is this going to take long?" one of the boys, Lewis, asked her while he slumped in his seat, uninterested, "We have Miss James' English class to go to."

Peyton shrugged, "Don't know yet, it all depends on whether or not you're going to tell me the truth about what's going on between you and Jack Roberts." She pushed herself off of her desk and stepped closer to the boys, "And don't worry about Miss James' English class, that's all taken care of."

Four blank faces stared back at her so she continued, " _Please_ don't insult me by acting like you don't know what I'm talking about." She stared at them a little longer and felt their unease starting to surface, "Just tell me what it is that set this off."

Jason and Lewis shrugged, while Mark and Morris didn't even look at her.

"Did Jack ever do anything to you?" Peyton tried again.

"Jack never did anything!"

Peyton looked over her shoulder to where the voice was coming from and was surprised to see Kevin standing in the doorway, a bewildered look in his eyes, his hands clutching something in the front pocket of his hoodie.

"Kevin?" Peyton turned around to face the boy but before she had the chance to ask him what he was doing here one of the boys behind her spoke.

"Dude, it's his gay best friend coming to defend him."

"Yeah," Mark agreed, "As always."

All four boys snickered.

Peyton shot a glare at them, "Quiet, all of you." She turned her attention back to Kevin, taking a careful step towards him, "Are you alright?"

When the boy didn't respond she could hear more snickering coming from behind her. She sighed because she could only imagine what those four kids were up to. She held her hand up to Kevin to let him know she would come back to him.

Looking at the four boys she shook her head, "I know I am your teacher and I'm supposed to be leading by example and all that crap, but you really make me sick, you know that?"

"But we didn't do anything," Jason started.

"Bullshit!" Kevin howled from the doorway.

"Holy shit!" Jason was trying to get up out of chair, eyes wide in shock. The three other boys followed his example and when Peyton turned around to see what was going on with Kevin she was shocked to see he was pointing a gun, his hands unsteady and his eyes narrowed.

"Kevin," Peyton spoke softly, trying to get the boy's attention, hoping that she could get through to him, but not trying to scare him, "Kevin, look at me."

He ignored her and instead took a step closer, slowly closing the space between them, aiming the gun somewhere over her shoulder, "Bullshit." He shook his head, "Bullshit. Bullshit!"

"Kevin," Peyton tried again, "Talk to me. What happened?" Her heart was in her throat and she felt panic rising up in her body even though she tried to stay calm. She took a step to the right, trying to block Kevin's path, because there was no way she would let anyone get hurt, not those four boys in the back of her class and definitely not Kevin.

For a moment the boy looked at her and she could see the desperation in his eyes, before he returned his attention to the boys behind her and spat, "They humiliated him. That's what happened! They humiliated him and then when his dad found out he beat the crap out of him several times because 'he should have stand up for himself, he wasn't raised a pussy'. He tried to kill himself after that, did you know that? He took a bunch of pills and almost died, and when his dad found that out he beat him up some more."

"Oh, Kevin I'm so sorry," Peyton's voice came out a whisper and she doubted he heard her.

"It's all their fault!," Kevin started pacing in front of Peyton's desk, the gun hanging loosely from his hand. "My best friend doesn't want to live anymore and then he ran away from home last weekend and now I don't know where he is and it's all _their_ fault!"

"Dude-" Morris said, but before he had the chance to continue Peyton told him to shut his mouth. She could see the four boys were standing in the far left corner of her classroom, not looking too alarmed, almost as if they thought Kevin wouldn't dare to pull the trigger.

She focused on Kevin again, "Kevin, is there anything I can do for you?"

"It's all their fault," He took another step towards the back of the room, raising the gun a little higher, but as he did Peyton took another step to the right, once again blocking his path. Kevin let out a sob, "Miss Sawyer, please, I'm not here for you, I just want to make them stop."

"You're in my classroom, Kevin," Peyton replied, her voice soft, "I'm not going to let anyone get hurt."

Kevin let out a groan, "But they hurt Jack, didn't they? They hurt him and now it's their turn."

"Dude, we never even touched him," Jason argued, "We just messed around with-"

"You really need to shut up," Peyton fumed, without looking at Jason, instead keeping her eyes on Kevin, "Stay where you are, keep your mouth shut and don't even so much as move until I tell you to."

"Don't worry, Miss Sawyer," Lewis countered, his voice full of what could only be explained as arrogance, "Mark has already texted someone to call the police. They're on their way, nothing's going to happen."

* * *

 **NATHAN**

"Scott, I need you to come with me to Tree Hill High," Captain Jensen said as he walked past Nathan's desk, not waiting for his response.

Nathan grabbed his jacket off his chair and followed his superior outside, to his car, "What happened, chief?"

"We got a call from a girl who got a text from her boyfriend saying that there's a kid with a gun in there."

"Shit," Nathan muttered quietly, as he drove out of the parking lot and onto College Road. It was only a short drive to Tree Hill High and Nathan tried to keep calm until he had more information but he was worried. He knew Lucas wasn't at work today, something about a field trip he was escorting, but he also knew Peyton and Haley both were.

He heard Captain Jensen request more back up from neighbouring vehicles as they turned onto Shipyard Boulevard. Minutes later he turned onto 41St Street and parked his car in front of the main entrance of the school. Not waiting for instructions Nathan got out of the car and grabbed his bulletproof vest out of the trunk. He turned towards his superior, "Do we know the location of the shooter?"

"No," Captain Jensen looked at his notes, "Lizzie already contacted the principal and he let us know there are four classes still in progress, two on the ground floor; an English class and a History class, both in the east wing. There's a Math class in progress on the second floor, north wing, and a IT class in the annex on the other side of the courtyard. We are not sure which of these rooms the shooter is in at the moment. We're lucky that all the Freshmen are on a field trip and most of the kids have already finished school for today, Scott."

"Do we know the identity of the shooter, sir?" Nathan asked while putting his vest on.

Captain Jensen looked at his notes again, "Kevin Nichols."

"Shit," Nathan said again, louder this time. He looked at his superior, "I think I know what this is about, sir."

"You've got one minute to explain,"

"My eh," Nathan hesitated for a moment, "My girlfriend Peyton Sawyer is the Visual Art Teacher here and she told me about this kid in her class, Jack Roberts, who got assaulted by four other kids back in January. Jack and his best friend have been absent a lot since then and she thinks it's because he is still being bullied. Peyton wanted to talk to those four boys this week to find out what is going on and to stop them harassing Jack."

"What does Kevin Nichols have to do with all this?" Captain Jensen asked.

"He's Jack Roberts' best friend. His only friend," Nathan explained, "Something must have happened."

"Thank you, Scott," Captain Jensen said with a nod of his head, "Are you ok to go in there?"

"Definitely," Nathan replied.

It was at that moment three other police cars arrived and Captain Jensen began shouting orders. He told Nathan and his colleagues Banks, Smith, and Hutt to secure the ground floor, starting at the main entrance and working their way from the east wing through the north wing to the west wing, telling them the numbers of the classrooms where classes were still in progress. He showed them the floor plan briefly so they had a general idea of the layout of the school, but as far as Nathan could tell not much had changed since he went to school here.

Without wasting time the four men quickly made their way up the stairs, knowing exactly what to do after years of training. Nathan took the lead, holding his gun in his right hand and carefully opened the door with his left. A quick glance around the main hall let him know that it was empty and he gave the all clear sign to the men behind him.

In the minutes that followed they secured the Student Administration Office, the girls' bathroom, and a deserted Math classroom before they came to room C.02 where they knew an English class was in progress. Through the window Nathan could see a class full of students focused on a TV screen at the front of the room. His eyes shifted to the back of the class where he saw Haley sitting against the back wall. She caught his eye and waved enthusiastically before her face turned more serious and she got up.

Seconds later the door to the classroom opened and Haley stepped outside, "What's going on, Nathan?"

"Not sure yet, Haley," Nathan spoke quietly, relying on the three other men to keep him secure. "I'm going to need you to keep your kids inside for a while ok?"

"Nathan," Haley said more sternly, "What's going on?"

"We got a report about a kid with a gun," Nathan explained, "And we don't know where he is."

"Oh," was all Haley could say.

Nathan put his hand on her arm and spoke quickly, "Go back inside, close the blinds and keep the kids there until we come and get you, ok? We need to secure the area first."

"How will I know it's you?" Haley asked, eyes wide in shock.

"I'll have someone push their badge under the door first, ok?" Nathan let go of Haley's arm, "Does your door lock?"

Haley nodded.

"Good, go back inside and lock it" Nathan gave her a small smile, "Try to act as normal as possible and whatever you do, don't tell the kids what's going on, ok? We'll come get you once it's safe."

Haley nodded again and turned around, ready to get inside. She stopped before she opened the door and looked at Nathan, her dark brown eyes almost black, "Peyton's in the artroom, Nathan."

* * *

"You did what?" Kevin roared, his eyes on Lewis.

In a flash Peyton could see him raise his gun and on instinct she stepped in front of him, shielding the boys behind her. It wasn't until she heard screams and felt an all-consuming pain in her right arm that she realized that Kevin had actually fired the gun. Her mouth went dry as she examined the growing red stain on her sleeve in disbelief and she felt herself getting light-headed. She gasped for air, trying to remember how to breathe and stared at Kevin in shock.

Kevin's eyes widened as he looked at her arm, as though it took him a second to realize what had happened.

Peyton tried to steady herself one of the desk, but felt her knees tremble. She wanted to tell Kevin that everything would be alright but needed a moment to catch her breath and closed her eyes to calm herself down.

As she did, she heard a quiet "I'm sorry," coming from Kevin before the gun was fired a second time.

* * *

 _I had to divide this chapter in two as it is super long, but part 2 will be posted soon, promise!_

 _As always, I hope you'll like it and reviews are appreciated :)_


	6. Chapter 6

_**AN**_ _: Thank you for anyone who left a review on the last chapter! I know the plot twist was unexpected - I never marked this story as drama or action, but hope you like it nonetheless.  
Here's part 2 of the month May - enjoy!_

* * *

 **MAY, part 2**

 **BROOKE**

She knocked on his door once again, louder this time, and definitely more annoyed. A light came somewhere and seconds later the door opened. If he was surprised to see her there he didn't show it. Brooke raised her eyebrow at him, arms crossed in front of her chest, "Why are you not with her? You told me yesterday you'd stop by after your shift today, but then you don't show up and you don't even bother to call me!"

"Why aren't you there?" Nathan countered, leaning against the doorframe, half-blocking her from coming inside.

It took everything she had not to roll her eyes at him because he knew she had been with Peyton ever since she arrived in the hospital yesterday, only leaving to get Peyton some things from home. She took a step forward and gently pushed him aside, letting herself in. She followed the hall into the kitchen on the right and waited for him to join her. When he did she repeated her question but more gentle this time, "Why aren't you at the hospital, Nathan? What if she wakes up and you're not there? Do you know what that will do to her?"

He didn't reply and Brooke felt something pull at her heartstrings when she saw the pained look on his face; it made him look like a little boy who had just received a scolding for not doing his homework. She decided to take a different approach, "Let's sit down for a minute."

As they sat down at his kitchen table Brooke started, "People always leave,"

"Sorry?" Nathan asked, his brows knitted together in confusion.

"That's her motto," Brooke explained, "All her life people have left her. Her birth mother, her parents, ex-boyfriends. And maybe not because they wanted to, but people always leave and she's the one who gets left behind with another piece of her heart gone missing. That's why she's so guarded,"

"Yeah, she told me about-," Nathan started, but Brooke interrupted him.

"I know she did," Brooke said with a sad smile, "I pushed her to open up more and when she did it made me so proud. She opened up to you, Nathan, and she told you everything, _everything_ because she knows you're one of the good guys. So why are you not with her?"

"Brooke,"

"No," Brooke held up her hand to let him know she was not done yet, "No. You don't get to do this right now. You don't get to be the next person who leaves. You need to be there for her. She needs you. Maybe even more than she needs me. So I'm asking you again; why are you not with her?"

"Because it's all my fault," Nathan simply stated. "She got hurt because I didn't get to her in time, because I was too busy comforting some history teacher who was about to lose his shit and leave his classroom full of kids behind to haul his ass out the door when I told him what was going on! I should have just let him."

"Nathan," Brooke shook her head, "You know you never would have done that, not as a person and not as a police officer. I may not know you as well as Peyton does, but I know that's not who you are."

"But what if she blames me?" Nathan asked, his voice breaking.

"Believe me, she doesn't," Brooke reassured him, her hand on his arm, "I know her. And I know that when she wakes up and remembers what happened, she'll blame herself. And she needs me but mostly you to tell her that it isn't her fault. She knows I'll say anything to make her feel better, but maybe you, with your job as a police officer, can help her understand why there is nothing she could have done to prevent this."

* * *

Peyton woke up to a soft murmur of voices, one of which she recognized to be Brooke's, but the steady beeping of a machine in her close proximity kept her from being able to hear what exactly was being said. Instead of opening her eyes or speaking up, Peyton remained silent for a little while longer, trying to figure out where she was and what had happened. After all, Brooke wasn't supposed to be in her bedroom, let alone talking to other people.

As fragments of her memory came back she felt her chest tighten and the beeping became more erratic. An image of a boy pointing a gun at her flashed before her eyes and suddenly she remembered. Her breathing became shallow, the pain in her chest getting worse.

"Peyton?" Brooke's voice came from somewhere on her left and she tried to focus on her best friend who was now holding her hand.

"Miss Sawyer?" Another voice, on her right this time, but not one she recognised. "Miss Sawyer, can you hear me?"

"Squeeze my hand if you can hear us, P.," she heard Brooke ask quietly. There was such a weight behind Brooke's plea that Peyton couldn't help but oblige. She tightened her grip on her best friend's hand and slowly opened her eyes, blinking heavily to adjust to the bright lights in the room.

"Oh, thank god," Brooke exhaled before she gently put her hand on Peyton's forehead.

"Hi," Peyton croaked, her voice rough and throat aching.

"Hi," Brooke smiled back at her, a tear slowly making its way down her cheek, "I've missed you."

Peyton nodded, hoping her best friend would understand that she shared the sentiment.

"Miss Sawyer?"

Peyton slowly turned her head to the right and was met by a pair of kind grey eyes which reminded her of her father's.

"I'm Doctor Collins," the older man explained, "Do you know where you are?"

"The hospital?" Peyton asked quietly.

Doctor Collins nodded, "That's right. Do you know why you're here?"

Peyton slowly shook her head, not because she didn't know but because she wanted to hear it from Doctor Collins. She looked at Brooke, whose encouraging smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I'll let Brooke tell you the details later on," Doctor Collins began, "but if we just look at you medically, you are here because, and I'm sorry to be blunt, dear, but you are here because you were shot."

Peyton felt Brooke squeezing her hand as she nodded, letting Doctor Collins know that she understood.

"You were hit in your upper right arm," he carefully removed the blankets to reveal her bandaged arm. "The bullet is still in there, but we have decided to not remove it. If we do there is a chance of internal bleeding and we simply don't know how much damage that would do." Doctor Collins picked up her chart from the bedside table, "Your arm will be sore for a couple of days, and I suggest to see a physical therapist once you're released from the hospital, but other than that you don't have any physical injuries and you should heal up nicely."

Peyton nodded again.

"That's all from me for now," Doctor Collins pulled the blankets back up and gave Peyton a nod, "I'll check back in with you again tomorrow, ok."

"Thank you," Peyton said quietly as she watched Doctor Collins exit the room. She took a deep breath and turned toward Brooke, "Tell me."

"Oh, Peyton," Brooke stroked Peyton's cheek before she carefully sat down on the edge of the bed, "I don't know where to start, honestly. Do you remember anything at all?"

"Kevin shot me," Peyton offered.

"Yeah," Brooke confirmed.

"Not on purpose," Peyton added.

"Probably not, no," Brooke said with a sad smile. She cleared her throat, "They told me he was going after the four kids you were talking to at that time. The ones that bullied Jack."

Peyton nodded, "Are they ok?"

"Yes,"

"And Kevin?" Peyton asked, even though the hurt look in Brooke's eyes told her everything she needed to know.

Brooke shook her head, "He didn't make it." She swallowed back her tears and continued, "He shot himself after he shot you. They think he freaked out when he saw that he hit you. I'm so sorry, Peyton, I know how much you tried to help him."

Peyton closed her eyes and let go of the breath she didn't know she was holding. She remembered hearing a second gunshot right after she was shot, but didn't know what had happened until now. With her eyes closed she asked, "When?"

"Yesterday," Brooke replied, "You were brought in yesterday afternoon, they cleaned your wound and closed it before you were brought here. You've been asleep ever since. They said something about your body and brain having to deal with everything that happened and that is was common for people who experienced physical and emotional trauma to need some time."

Peyton nodded, trying to process everything Brooke had just told her. She was grateful to have her best friend by her side but felt a longing for someone else as well. She looked at Brooke, "Did you call Nathan?"

"He's the one who found you, hon" Brooke said, her voice soft. "His team was sent to the school after the call about a kid with a gun came in. They had just secured the entrance and east wing when they heard the gunshots, he was by your side in minutes."

"And now?" Peyton asked, her chest tightening again, a feeling of unease coming over her.

"And now he's supposed to be here any minute," Brooke said with a genuine smile, knowing that this time he would be.

* * *

"Careful," Nathan said as he helped her into the car seat. He let go of her hand and fastened her seat belt before he softly closed the passenger's door, rounding the car to the driver's side.

Peyton leaned her head back against the headrest, glad to be released from the hospital. When Doctor Collins visited her this morning he was very happy with her vitals and how the wound was healing and had discharged her after making her promise she would contact a physical therapist first thing on Monday. He also advised her to talk to someone, preferably a psychologist, about what happened and had given her the card of a certain Doctor Monroe.

"You ok?" Nathan asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Peyton turned her head toward him and smiled, "Yeah, just happy to go home."

"Yeah, about that," Nathan said as he started the car, "I don't really like the idea of you being alone right now and neither does Brooke, so," he hesitated for a second and looked at her, "I wondered if you want to come home with me?"

"Nate," Peyton started, feeling herself getting angry because apparently he and Brooke now knew what was best for her. Who were they to decided she couldn't be alone right now? She exhaled sharply and looked out the window, her thoughts racing. If she was honest, the thought of being alone didn't appeal to her, not in the least because she would still be on leave from work for at least one week, maybe more, week, but she didn't want to be taken care of either. She could take care of herself .

"Sawyer," Nathan's voice was soft and he sounded worried, "I know I probably shouldn't have dropped this on you so last minute, but I really don't want you to be alone. What happened was traumatic and I hate to sound like a condescending asshole, but I know from experience that this will come back to haunt you. You will sleep like crap for at least a couple of weeks, reliving what happened in your classroom in your nightmares, trying to figure out what you could have done differently,"

There was so much emotion in his voice that Peyton knew he wasn't just saying this to scare her, or to coax her into staying with him. It was obvious that he had gone through something similar, maybe even more than once and it made her heart ache for him. They talked about his job at times, but he always kept it light and never told her about the heavy cases. The one exception being that time he had asked her to meet him for breakfast after a particular rough night. She turned to him and studied his face while he kept his eyes on the road. His jaw was set in a way that told her he was serious about his request and she felt her resilience crumble.

Without knowing he was interrupting her thoughts he continued, "And just when you feel like you're getting better, something will happen that reminds you of that day and the first time it does you are right back at square one and you have to start building yourself up all over again. And at first you'll ignore the people who tell you to go talk to someone, because fuck it, you can do this on your own. You've already done everything else by yourself so why should this be any different?" He shook his head and dropped his voice, "But they're right. It does get better when you talk to someone. You need people by your side to help you get through this. That's why I don't want you to be alone right now." He took his eyes off the road for a second and looked at her, "And you don't have to go through this alone, Sawyer. I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

Peyton woke up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. Not for the first time since she was released from the hospital three days ago did she dream about the shooting. With each passing night it seemed the nightmares got worse and more vivid. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, careful not to wake Nathan who had an early shift tomorrow. She took a minute to calm herself, before she got up and grabbed Nathan's hoodie that he had thrown on the chair next to the bedroom door earlier tonight. Her right arm ached when she put the sweater on, another reminder of what happened last week. She massaged it gently, careful to avoid the stitches that were due to come out on Friday, as she made her way down the stairs. She didn't bother putting on the sling that the Doctor Collins made her promise she'd wear as much as possible, thinking she'd simply cradle her right hand in her left.

Walking through the living room to the kitchen she grabbed a glass from one of the cabinets and filled it with water, immediately taking a big gulp. She leaned against the counter, holding the glass to her chest as she looked out the glass door on her right. Even though it was the middle of the night she could see the waves rolling in on the beach, thanks to an almost full moon. She looked at the clock on the oven which told her it was close to four and she let out a frustrated groan, knowing from previous nights that going back to sleep was pretty much an impossible feat.

Still holding her glass close to her chest she walked to the living room and stood in front of the window that too overlooked the beach and the ocean. Nathan had told her that the first thing he did when he bought the house five years ago was to replace the small windows the previous owners had put in the living room with floor to ceiling windows, simply because it would be a waste not to.

In the three days that she'd been here Peyton grew to love the view and the house in general. The house was just a little wider than it was long and the layout was simple; the front door was located in the centre of the house and opened up to a long hall that ran almost to the end with a staircase on the left side. Lined on the right side were a utility room with a bathroom and an L-shaped kitchen that connected with the living room, the long side of the L running from right to left across the back wall. On the left side was a small room that Nathan had intended to use as a weight room but instead was used as a storage room for all his work gear.

On the second floor were three bedrooms; the master bedroom was located on the left side, with its own bathroom next to it. On the right side there were two smaller bedrooms, one of which was used as a guest room. Another bathroom was located next to the staircase.

Lost in her thoughts Peyton didn't notice Nathan had woken up until she heard him walk up to her and saw his reflection in the window.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Peyton shook her head.

He stood behind her and gently slipped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her left shoulder. His mouth was next to his ear when he said, "I'm here for you."

Peyton leaned into him, "I know."

Nathan pressed a kiss against her cheek, "Do you want to go back to bed?"

"Not really," Peyton answered. She bit her lip as she looked out the window, the first signs of sunrise at the horizon. She let out a sigh, knowing that she needed to do something about these sleepless nights, "I'm going to call Doctor Monroe today, see if I can make an appointment."

"Good," Nathan agreed.

* * *

"I'll have Miss James bring you the artwork you need to grade some time next week," Principal Henderson said, "and we will see each other on Monday June first."

"I was kind of hoping to go back to work earlier," Peyton tried again, her grip on the telephone tightening. She really wanted to see how her senior kids were doing.

"Did your doctor clear you?"

Peyton hesitated for a moment, but knew it was best to be honest, "Not yet."

"Exactly," Principal Henderson agreed, "I appreciate your dedication, Miss Sawyer, but I'd rather you take good care of yourself first. Frankly, I think two weeks leave is still a bit short, but I think this is a good compromise with you originally wanting to return on Monday. What do you think?"

"I would still rather pick up the artwork myself, Mr Henderson," Peyton countered, "Just to make sure everything is handled properly."

"Fine," Principal Henderson agreed, "but not during school hours, Miss Sawyer."

"Noted,"

"Good. Take care of yourself, Miss Sawyer," Principal Henderson added as both a warning and a goodbye.

* * *

"Ugh," Brooke wrinkled her nose, "You still have to wear that horrible thing? It's hideous!" She was leaning against her car, her left hand shielding her eyes from the sun.

Peyton looked down at the white and floral patterned sling she had on, "I don't mind,"

"It's a good thing you already have a man," Brooke shot back with a grin, "You look like an old spinster with this thing." She pushed herself off the car and gave Peyton a careful hug followed by a kiss on her cheek, "It's good to see you again, bestie."

"Definitely," Peyton agreed. She hadn't seen Brooke since Sunday afternoon, when Nathan had invited Brooke over for dinner. "And thanks for driving me," she added over the roof of the car as she opened the passenger door.

"Don't mention it," Brooke replied as she sat down on the driver's seat, "Plus, Thursdays are always pretty quiet anyway, so closing the store for half a day isn't that big of a deal. And I needed some time away from that place anyway."

"Already?" Peyton joked, fumbling with the seatbelt, not being able to get the belt across with just her left hand. She sat back as Brooke leaned over to help her and gave an appreciative smile when the belt clicked into place, a little frustrated she wasn't able to do this on her own.

"Yeah," Brooke admitted as she started the car and pulled out onto the road, "It's a lot more work than I thought it would be," she hesitated for a second, "Not that I'm complaining or anything, because I love it, but I think I need some help."

"Like, all week, or only on Saturdays?" Peyton asked.

"Saturdays would be good, for starters," Brooke agreed, not taking her eyes off the road, "If I could get some work done in the office while someone else was in the store to man the cash register and help with fittings, that would definitely help."

"You should ask Rose," Peyton suggested simply.

Brooke nodded slowly, a smile forming on her lips, "She would be perfect."

"She would," Peyton agreed, "Plus, she adores you and has an eye for fashion."

"I'll call her this evening,"

"Good," Peyton leaned back in her seat, glad she could be of some help. She stared out of the window as they drove along Oleander Drive. They would eventually get to Peyton's apartment if they kept following the road, but instead Brooke turned left onto 17th Street, taking her to the hospital. She wondered if this was the same route the ambulance had taken when they picked her up from the school exactly one week ago. She also wondered if Kevin had been taken to hospital first or if they had taken him straight to the morgue.

"So," Brooke said, interrupting Peyton's thoughts, "This therapy session you're doing today, that's with the psychologist?"

Peyton shook her head, "Today's physical therapy. I'm seeing Doctor Monroe tomorrow."

"Hmm," Brooke said as she pulled up in front of the main entrance, "Well, good luck, I guess?"

Peyton shrugged, not knowing what to expect, "Thanks,"

"When you're done we're going out for ice cream, ok?"

Peyton couldn't help but smile at Brooke's unwavering belief in the healing powers of ice cream, "Sounds like a plan. See you in a hour, Brooke."

* * *

"If you're not up for this just say it, Peyton," Haley said, a hint of irritation seeping through her voice.

"No, it's fine," Peyton tried her best to sound a little more cheery, "I'll see you Monday after school,"

"Ok, see you then," Haley said before she hung up.

Peyton let out a frustrated sigh and threw her phone on the couch. She groaned when it bounced back and landed on the floor, but picked it up anyway.

"You ok?"

Peyton wanted to say it was nothing but she also knew Nathan would see straight to her so she shook her head, "Not really."

"What did Haley want?" Nathan came up to her and gently kissed her temple. He had just gotten home from work but had heard most of the conversation from across the room.

"Kevin's wake," Peyton stated simply. She leaned against Nathan and sighed, "She pretty much told me I _have_ to attend, whether I like it or not. I have this weird feeling that she's mad at me or something."

Nathan kept quiet, and so she continued, "I'm not sure but I think she's mad that I didn't let Principal Henderson handle this like she told me to do. Or maybe she just thinks that I should have done more to get through to Kevin, like she thinks that all of this could have been prevented."

"Kevin was a troubled kid, Sawyer," Nathan said, a softness to his voice Peyton hadn't heard before. He explained, "When we talked to his parents after it happened, they told us he has been struggling with depression and anxiety most of his life and that he's been seeing a psychiatrist on a regular basis ever since he turned eleven."

"This isn't really helping," Peyton said, anger in her voice, "If anything it seems like more people let him down this year."

"When his parents noticed a change in his behaviour at the beginning of the year, they consulted his psychiatrist," Nathan continued, "and he tried to get Kevin to open up to him about what was going on, but Kevin closed off and even stopped going to the appointments at some point." He shook his head, "I know it's hard to hear this, but sometimes there are people don't want to accept the help they're offered. No matter how hard we try."

"I should have tried harder," Peyton simply stated, still not convinced.

"You did everything you could," Nathan replied calmly, "and you have the bullet hole in your arm to prove it. There's no one to blame here, not you, not Kevin, and not those four boys. Bad things happen and sometimes there's nothing we can do about it, no matter how fucked up that sounds."

There was something in Nathan's voice that kept her from arguing with him. And when she put her hand on his arm and felt his uniform under her fingers it was a reminder that he, unfortunately, had more experience with this than she did.

"I think Haley is upset that the situation got out of control and that there was nothing she could do about it," Nathan offered in Haley's defense, "She's always so used to being the one to fix things that she's probably just mad at herself."

* * *

Peyton excited the gym with a sadness that pulled on her heart, because even though all of Tree Hill High's teachers attended the wake, only a handful of students were there and she could only imagine how lonely the boy must have felt during his years here. Seeing Scottie and Sarah there had made her a feel a little better and she reminded herself to talk to the girls once she was back at work. Out of all the students they seemed to get along with Kevin and Jack the best.

Jack.

Thinking of him made her heart hurt a little more. Nathan had informed her this morning that Jack had popped up on the radar when he was arrested for selling drugs somewhere in Raleigh this past weekend. Knowing he turned eighteen this winter she doubted he would be released with just a warning. Not being able to at least help him made her feel more and more like she was failing each and everyone of her kids.

She took a deep breath and followed the hall toward her classroom, half wishing she had accepted Haley's offer of coming along with her. Peyton had used the outside entrance to the gym to get to the wake, purposely avoiding the inside of the school, but now that she had to pick up the artwork she had to grade as part of the kids' final grades in Visual Arts she had no choice but to walk the empty halls. Looking around she realized not much had changed and then wondered if something should have. After all, nothing happened in the halls, it all happened inside her classroom.

With one hand on the door handle she hesitated and leaned her head against the door, trying to gather the courage needed for the task at hand. Slowly she opened the door and took a tentative step inside, immediately closing the door behind her. Peyton looked across the room, taking it all in. At first glance nothing had changed, but when she looked around more careful she noticed a desk was missing from the second row, probably the one she had collapsed against after she was shot. Two carpet tiles look out of place, their colors a little less faded than the others. One was where the missing desk was supposed to stand, the other a little closer to where she was standing now. Her breath hitched in her throat when she realized they had replaced them because the old ones would have been blood-stained by her and Kevin.

Kevin.

Her left hand tried to find something to help keep her upright but didn't find anything and she had no other choice but to sink to her knees. Tears were streaming down her face and for once she didn't try to hold them in.

* * *

 **NATHAN**

He looked at his watch and decided he would give her five more minutes before he would go look for her. He had driven her to the school over an hour ago and instead of going back home until the wake was over he had told her he would wait for her here. She had told him she could just as well call him when she needed to be picked again but he had dismissed the idea, saying he'd happily wait for her. What he didn't tell her was that he was worried she wouldn't make it through the wake and would want to leave early and that he wanted to be there just in case that happened.

He had seen a couple of students and teachers come out of the building about ten minutes ago and figured the wake must have ended. He knew she wanted to pick up the artwork from her senior students while she was here but doubted it would take more than a couple of minutes. Looking at his watch again he got out of the car and walked toward the building, not exactly worried about her but not quite confident she was ok either. In the months that he'd know her he had learned that she took things to heart and so it was no surprise that she blamed herself for what happened. He hoped however, that talking to the psychologist would make her realize this wasn't her fault. He had told her numerous times already and while at first she hadn't believed him, the last time things seemed to click and she seemed more at peace.

He pushed to door to the main entrance open and remembered how he had entered the same building so cautiously a little over a week ago. Instead of turning right, this time he turned left, toward the art room. He passed the principal's office on his left, not surprised to see that the lights were still on. It must have been a hard couple of days for the principal as well.

The door to Peyton's classroom was closed, but through the windows next to it he could see her sit on the floor, head in her hands, her body shaking. He could tell she was crying and even though it made his heart hurt he also felt relieved. She had hardly shown any emotion since it happened, always keeping her guard up, even around Brooke, and he had been anticipating some sort of breakdown ever since she was released from the hospital. He knew from his own experience that no matter how hard you tried to fight it, it would happen at some point and that it was best to just let it.

Nathan opened the door after he gave a soft knock, just to let her know he was coming in, "Hey,"

Peyton looked up at him, fresh tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry,"

"It's ok," he said as he held out his hand and helped her up before he pulled her into him and held her with all his might, "It's ok, I'm here."

* * *

Peyton padded around the living room, barefeet, hair in a messy bun and a strong cup of coffee in her hand. Her right hand. Her physical therapist encouraged her to try and do as much as she could with her right hand again, and she was able to do more each day. Taking a sip of her coffee she looked outside and for the first time this morning noticed the miserable weather outside. It was raining and low clouds made it almost impossible to see the ocean.

Wanting to do something constructive while Nathan was at work Peyton headed upstairs, to one of the spare bedrooms where they had put the artwork she had picked up from work earlier this week. A couple of days ago Nathan had surprised her and had bought a desk and office chair for the room, so she could actually sit down while she graded the pieces. He had also gotten her a floor lamp and a cabinet to store some of her things.

She sat down and pulled a folder from the pile, excited to see what was in there. As a final assignment she had made her students take three pieces from their freshmen year as inspiration for three new pieces. She thought it would help them see how much they had grown in their work over the past four years.

As she opened the folder a note fell out and she read it as she picked it up from the ground. A smile formed around her lips when she read: _Dear Miss Sawyer, we miss you. Hope you will be back soon. - Emma_ She carefully put the note on the corner on her desk, surprised by the kindness of this girl and set about grading her work.

Another note fell out when she opened the second folder. And the third. And the fourth. All with equally sweet and encouraging messages. By the end of the day Peyton had graded twenty folders and had equally as much notes sitting on the corner of her desk, which healed her heart in ways she was sure her kids wouldn't even understand.

* * *

 _ **AN**_ _: please let me know what you think of the alternating POVs - I hadn't really intended on using them after the last chapter but it seemed to work here as well. Should I continue telling things from Brooke and Nathan's POV throughout the story or just stick to Peyton's?_


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